Kop Talks

🔴 Liverpool fan, not an ITK. Sharing my views, LFC news & rumours, match reactions, and talking about the club we all love. YNWA ❤️

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

Anyone saying Jamie Carragher was a shit footballer hasn’t got a clue about football. Most say it because they dislike him as a pundit, or simply because he’s a Scouser.

You don’t play 737 games for Liverpool if you’re shit. From 2005–2009, Carra was as good and as consistent as any of the top centre-backs in Europe. Proper defender. Proper leader. Champions League winner.

And whether people like him or not, he’s gone on to become one of the best pundits about. His knowledge and understanding of the game is as good as it gets.

Liverpool legend. 🔴 #LFC

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@ip84efc @Oc_Babs Suprised you haven’t banged David unsworth in there

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

Anyone saying Jamie Carragher was a shit footballer hasn’t got a clue about football. Most say it because they dislike him as a pundit, or simply because he’s a Scouser.

You don’t play 737 games for Liverpool if you’re shit. From 2005–2009, Carra was as good and as consistent as any of the top centre-backs in Europe. Proper defender. Proper leader. Champions League winner.

And whether people like him or not, he’s gone on to become one of the best pundits about. His knowledge and understanding of the game is as good as it gets.

Liverpool legend. 🔴 #LFC

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@GawlyFady 😂😂 sleep well

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

But saying “if Liverpool had money Carragher would’ve been on the bench” is just an assumption mate 😂 There’s absolutely nothing to back that up.

I keep mentioning those years because that was Carragher’s peak as a centre-back. During that period Liverpool were competing at the highest level — he played in 2 Champions League finals, won one of them, won another FA Cup and was part of a side that finished on 86 points and just missed out on the league.

Why would I judge peak Carragher on the player he was breaking through as a youngster or when he was coming towards the end of his career?

And even before Rafa, he was hardly some passenger. In 2000/01 he played 58 of Liverpool’s 63 games in a season where we won a cup treble.

When Liverpool had a side capable of competing at the highest level, Carragher was a key part of it.

You can say there were better centre-backs than Carragher. Of course there were. But “there were better players” and “Carragher was average” are two completely different arguments.

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@tickets2arsenal He’s won more European cups than Arsenal tho

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@Oc_Babs Name me 20 from the premier league era who’s better ?

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

Under Rafa, when we actually built a side capable of challenging, Carragher was part of the strong spine, not the weakness. Carragher at the back, Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard and Torres. We finished on 86 points in 2008/09, losing only twice all season. United won it with 90. The areas we lacked compared with United and Chelsea were quality and depth elsewhere in the squad, particularly out wide.

And saying Liverpool couldn’t match United and Chelsea financially doesn’t prove Carragher was average 😂 It proves exactly why we couldn’t surround that spine with the same quality and depth they could.

Carragher was never the reason those Liverpool sides fell short of a league title. That’s the point you keep avoiding. 🔴

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

Carragher was never the reason Liverpool couldn’t get over the line and win the league. Yes, we fell short, but it wasn’t because we were poor at centre-back.

Under Rafa we had a top-class spine — Carragher, Agger, Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard and Torres. The problem was always 2 or 3 areas around that spine, particularly out wide, and the lack of depth compared to United and Chelsea.

Put prime Mané and Salah either side of Torres in that Rafa side and tell me we don’t win more 😂

We also couldn’t compete financially with United and Chelsea in the transfer market back then. That matters when you’re trying to build a squad capable of winning 90+ points.

And would Carragher play in a title-winning Liverpool side? For me, absolutely. If I’m picking the best Liverpool XI from players I’ve actually watched, VVD is obviously first choice at centre-back — and I’m putting Carragher next to him

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

🏆 Champions League winner
🏆 UEFA Cup winner
🏆 2× FA Cup winner
🏆 3× League Cup winner
🏆 2× UEFA Super Cup winner

He played 737 games for Liverpool, the second-most in the club’s history.

He made 150 appearances in European competition — still the most of ANY player in Liverpool’s history.

He played in TWO Champions League finals, winning it in Istanbul in 2005 and reaching the final again in 2007. UEFA themselves highlighted him setting Liverpool’s European appearance record on the way to that second final.

In the 2000/01 treble-winning season, he played 58 games as Liverpool won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. (Liverpool FC⁠)

At his peak he was voted into the 2005/06 PFA Team of the Year and finished 20th in the 2005 Ballon d’Or.

And anyone who actually went to Anfield knows how highly he was regarded. The Kop sang “We all dream of a team of Carraghers.”

When he finally retired after 737 games, he got a proper send-off at Anfield because that’s exactly what he was — a Liverpool legend. 🔴🔴

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

What’s everyone’s thoughts on today’s performance? 🔴

The goals we conceded today were poor.

For the first, when Gravenberch drives forward, whoever is alongside him — in this case Szoboszlai — maybe needs to tuck back in and offer a bit more protection in the middle if we lose the ball. If not, either VVD or Jacquet has to be more aggressive stepping into midfield. Osula was able to pick the ball up far too easily and drive forward.

For the second goal, we’ve got 3 players around Wissa and not one of them brings him down. Just stop the counter, take the yellow and reset. It happened far too often last season as well — sometimes you’ve just got to commit a good foul rather than let someone break.

When it went 1-1, I genuinely felt like we’d go on and win it.

Get the signings in the door and let the manager work. I think we’re in for an exciting season, but there’s clearly still plenty to work on. #lfc

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@M197788 Carra scored 7 own goals lad 😂 That’s 2 more than Rio Ferdinand and 1 LESS than Franco Baresi, who scored 8.

Imagine using own goals as a way of judging how good a defender was. By that logic, Baresi must’ve been shite as well 😂

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@MDLEFC Because yous are shite

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@MDLEFC Put Everton’s 👍🏻

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@NoirMJ @BlaneyGerard Must of been a poor player then mate 😂

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

🚨 LIVERPOOL XI CONFIRMED:

🇧🇷 Alisson
🇳🇱 Frimpong
🇫🇷 Jacquet
🇳🇱 Van Dijk
🇭🇺 Kerkez
🇭🇺 Szoboszlai
🇳🇱 Gravenberch
🇩🇪 Wirtz
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rio
🇸🇪 Isak
🇳🇱 Gakpo

COME ON YOU REDS! 🔴

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@JamieBr79085450 Carra could’ve played up front for Rangers and scored 20 a season in your league, mate 😂

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

@con115x Loved him mate

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

Jamie Carragher or Sami Hyypia?

Both massively underrated when people talk about the best Premier League defenders of their era.

If I’m picking my best Liverpool XI from players I’ve watched, I’m going Carragher alongside Van Dijk.

Who are you picking? 👇

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

You’re an account based in the United States, mate, with @Cristiano in your bio 😂 Every level-headed Liverpool fan who actually watched Carragher’s career knows what a top player he was for this club. You don’t have to rate him above every other great CB to give the man the respect his career deserves.

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

😂 People love bringing up Carragher’s 7 Premier League own goals like it proves he was a poor defender.

Carra: 508 PL games — 7 own goals.
Rio Ferdinand: 504 PL games — 5 own goals.

That’s one every 73 games for Carra compared to one every 101 for Rio. Two own goals difference across practically the exact same number of games.

If 7 own goals makes Carragher a donkey, what does 5 make Rio? 😂

Own goals happen when you’re a defender playing 500+ Premier League games. Find a better argument.

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

😂 “The most average Liverpool team since the 1950s.”

From 2005–2009 Liverpool reached TWO Champions League finals, won one of them, won the FA Cup and Super Cup, and finished Premier League runners-up with 86 points.

Yes, we fell short in the league, but it certainly wasn’t because we weren’t good enough at centre-half. Carragher was a massive part of one of the best defensive units in Europe during that period.

Try looking at his career like an adult instead of rewriting history because you don’t like him. You can rate other defenders higher without pretending Carragher was average.

[Kop Talks @KopTalksuk]

This is what people can’t seem to grasp. You can prefer Nesta, Cannavaro, Rio, Terry, Vidic etc. That doesn’t automatically make Carragher average. You’re literally naming some of the greatest centre-backs of their generation.

My point is Carragher played at a very high level for Liverpool. Once he moved permanently to centre-half, there was never this feeling that CB was the problem and Liverpool desperately needed to upgrade him.

From 2005-09 he was a highly respected defender in European football. He played every minute of two Champions League finals and was nominated for UEFA’s Club Defender of the Year alongside some of the very names you’ve mentioned.

737 appearances for Liverpool. Champions League winner. Leader on the pitch. You don’t have to call him the best — just put some respect on how good a player he actually was.