Shortly after Jamie Carragher had received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 88th minute of today’s 1-0 victory over Queen’s Park Rangers at Anfield, the Liverpool crowd serenaded him for the last time with You’ll Never Walk Alone.
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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will miss having Carragher around for a variety of reasons and he knows he is impossible to replace.
“I don’t think there are many about like that, I’ve got to be honest,” he said.
“What he’s got at this football club is unique. You have to find different ways. All great players, their time comes to an end.
“We’ve seen it here through the years. You look at Ian Rush when he went away and they brought in John Barnes and Peter Beardsley – and they brought something else.
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Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher admitted he had an emotional afternoon after playing his last match for the club at Anfield before retirement.
Philippe Coutinho’s 23rd-minute goal settled the encounter against relegated QPR but all the attention was on the veteran centre-back on his 737th and final appearance.
He almost capped it with a superb goal – he scored on his full debut in front of the Kop – but his sweetly-struck 25-yard shot cannoned back off the post.
“I’ll have to watch it again – I thought it was in,” said the 35-year-old.
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Forward Philippe Coutinho was Liverpool’s matchwinner but Jamie Carragher was the star of the show at Anfield on his 737th and final appearance for the club – a 1-0 win against QPR.
The veteran centre-back brought the curtain down on a first-team career spanning 16 years 131 days – the seventh longest in the club’s history.
Such is his longevity the 35-year-old has served under six different permanent managers at Anfield but his own influence on the team during that time cannot be underestimated
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Liverpool have made a £4million bid for young Sporting Lisbon centre-half Tiago Ilori. Liverpool made the offer for the 20-year-old on Wednesday, and the Portuguese giants are set to give the Reds an answer quickly.
Ilori, born in London but a Portuguese Under-20 cap, is tipped for big things and Rodgers desperate to have him in a major defensive revamp.
The 6ft 3in former striker is classy on the ball and also dominant in the air.
Rodgers spotted Ilori and has now been given the cash to make a bid – although Sporting are not happy about the idea of selling a player who has only just broken into the first team.
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Interesting data from whoscored.com showing the different types of creative players in the Premier League.
In a creative sense an average of 1.5 key passes per game may not seem like a lot but the quality of chances that he’s laid on have been superb at times. Half of his 18 key passes this season have created clear cut opportunities for teammates, with an average of 0.75 per game in that regard the highest in the Premier League. In turn the youngster has picked up 5 assists already, with 0.42 per game again at the top of the pile in England’s top flight this season.
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Liverpool’s in-form striker Daniel Sturridge has warned opposing fans that shouting abuse will only inspire him to increase his goal tally, he told the Liverpool Echo.
Sturridge scored his first hat-trick for the club as they won 3-1 at Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
He was jeered throughout the game by Fulham fans because he used to play for their West London neighbours Chelsea before moving to Anfield for £12 million in January.
But the 23-year-old striker, who has scored 11 goals in 12 starts for Liverpool, insists that the barracking from the stands motivates him to do better.
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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed young striker Daniel Sturridge as a future force of the European game.
Rodgers marvelled as the 23-year-old turned in an impressive performance against Fulham, a stunning hat-trick helping the Reds to a 3-1 victory.
But it was not a one-man show, with Rodgers quick to praise his ‘exciting’ team who he claims could have further put the home side to the sword.
However, Rodgers saved special mention for England international Sturridge, believing the January transfer acquisition could one day rule the continent.
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Daniel Sturridge wreaked havoc on his return to west London, firing Liverpool to an easy 3-1 win against Fulham with a superb hat-trick at Craven Cottage.
Sturridge had not scored against the Cottagers during his time at the club’s local rivals Chelsea or while he was at Manchester City, but he took Martin Jol’s team apart with three well-taken strikes.
Three minutes after Dimitar Berbatov had nodded Fulham ahead, the England striker turned Aaron Hughes inside-out before smashing the ball into the roof of the net.
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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says that the aim next season is to finish in the top four “absolutely”.
Rodgers was speaking ahead of the final away game of his first season in charge of the club, against Fulham on Sunday.
“My focus is to try to close the gap” he explained. “We are bridging that gap slowly this year but hopefully we will take a bigger stride next year.
“But the reality is very simple: we are 30 points behind the leaders and 12 points behind fourth place so we have a lot of work to do here.”
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