Top 50 Jamie Carragher Quotes

Has there ever been a Premier League star splitting opinion more than Mesut Ozil?

I want to be a manager, it wouldn’t scare me, but I also think you could be sacked in six months and you’d have to take the kids back to school with your tail between your legs.

The two managers I worked under longest are Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez. I have so much respect for the two of them.

I’ve never blown my own trumpet over my ability but it took an awful lot to stop me getting on the pitch.

Centre-back is my best position. I think everyone is aware of that.

Medals were – and always will be – the best thing to show your accomplishments in football.

People talk about managers having certain styles and philosophies… well, Benitez manages by conflict. Look right through his career and you will see it everywhere.

You can shape statistics to make them look however you want them to.

People make relegation out to be a fate worse than death but that’s nonsense. If the infrastructure is right, clubs can bounce back.

The crowd, especially at Anfield, want us to win so much that it transmits itself down on to the pitch at times.

If you’d asked me at the start of my career I would have said I was going to be a manager. I may still be in future, but there seemed to be an expectation it was a natural progression for me.

Compared to other clubs, what we’ve achieved under Gerard Houllier is exceptional.

Playing for England is a bonus, but playing for Liverpool is what I want to do.

It’s been a privilege for me, really, to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, an iconic club, an institution.

I’ve seen plenty of young lads elevated into the senior squad acting like they have made it.

This is Leicester City. They are a yo-yo club and always have been.

For the life of me, I’ll never understand why the teams that have the best defences get criticised. Shouldn’t clean sheets be a badge of honour for defenders and goalkeepers?

I always thought just because I love football, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m desperate to manage.

I’m always trying to improve.

Robben is truly world class, proving himself at the highest level in England, Spain, Germany and on the international stage.

When I think of Xabi, my mind goes back to the first training session he had at Melwood in August 2004. And the same word always leaps out: wow! Rafa Benitez had talked him up before he arrived and immediately you understood.

I understand that we’re paid a lot of money and we’re in the limelight. When things don’t go well, there’s deserved criticism.

There are times when I watch Jurgen Klopp leaping around after Liverpool have scored and I think to myself: ‘I wish that was me.’

The top coaches want wide strikers who cut inside. They want playmaking midfielders who can play between the lines as well as perform their defensive duties.

Would I – or any defender – tell the referee to give a penalty if I made a foul in the box but it was deemed a fair tackle? No chance.

It’s all about winning trophies really.

Players like people saying good things about them and, of course, no one is ever wrong when they do that, but they always are when they say bad stuff.

In the past, you would have been classed as a sweeper if you were put in the middle of a three-man defence.

I’m not massively into the screamers, because I think sometimes fellas just hit it and there’s an element of luck over whether it flies into the top corner or over the bar.

You talk about results being more important than performances but, ideally, you want to put the two together.

We sometimes undervalue the importance of goalkeepers.

If you want trophies, they don’t get given to you, you have to earn them, you have to play well in big games.

We take the plaudits when things are going well so you have to take the criticism when it’s not going well.

Rafa Benitez – man with huge experience who knew how the club operated – could not get the results Real wanted and couldn’t walk away from the fights that erupted in the dressing room and the boardroom.

Liverpool is no different to any other city in the country for footballers. If you are famous and people know you have money, there will always be someone who wants to make a name for themselves.

The buzz we had in 2000-01 was unique. We played 34 matches between January 1 and May 19, but lost only four.

There is so much I admire about Buffon. His longevity is remarkable, his loyalty to Juventus impeccable.

We’re only human and when things aren’t going well the confidence does go a little bit.

Centre-back takes more out of you mentally than physically.

Arsene Wenger is a legend in the English game.

Del Bosque was axed by Madrid for failing to retain the Champions League in 2003 but his sacking triggered the start of a spell when they won nothing for four years and failed to get beyond the Champions League’s last 16.

We talk about the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ of 2004 and the team who won the Double two years earlier and drool over their attacking play. It is easy to forget, though, that virtually the same squad had won nothing for three years.

Real Madrid is such an extraordinary club in terms of size and the constant politics that, perhaps, the best results are achieved by those with an ability to remove themselves from the spotlight to concentrate on their work.

I’ve been in the position where Liverpool needed to win on the last day to reach the Champions League. In May 2000, we needed to beat Bradford, who were fighting to avoid relegation, at Valley Parade but lost an awful game 1-0.

I’ve played for Liverpool’s first-team pretty much every week for 16 years.

I was an Evertonian as a kid, but I’ve never hated Man United. I’ve always had respect for them.

There were players who could leave the result at Anfield, but me? No chance. I got involved in the running of two restaurants in Liverpool to take my mind off football but, before the opening night of each one, I’d played badly. It meant I couldn’t enjoy the party. It felt like I had to punish myself.

We are constantly told to enjoy Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo before they retire but what about Arjen Robben?

When Robben joined Chelsea in 2004 nobody realised how good he was. He was seen as an excellent player rather than a world-class one, and he suffered a lot with injuries. In the years since, he has elevated his game.

Without Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, we would discuss Robben more often and with more appreciation.