The Liverpool squad that Jamie Carragher found unsettling during his playing career has been identified.
After rising through the ranks of the Liverpool academy, Carragher played for his boyhood club for his whole professional career.
Carragher has the second-most appearances for Liverpool in his more than 15-year career, having appeared in 737 games for the Anfield team in all competitions.
The former England international entered the punditry industry after retiring in 2013.
Speaking with former Arsenal player Freddie Ljungberg on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher disclosed that the team he feared most was the Gunners’ Invincibles squad under Arsene Wenger.
“This team is the best team I have ever played against, and the one team where I would say I was psychologically affected before games,” he stated.
The experience left me feeling uneasy, inadequate, and less physically strong. It also made me feel smaller and weaker. Even though you knew Chelsea or United was superior to us, you thought we could give them a good game. They’ll go as far as they can with us.
“This, Freddie, and your team is what it did to me psychologically,” Carragher went on.
Carragher, who was a right-back against Arsenal at the time, discussed the difficulties of playing that position.
The 45-year-old stated: “I don’t think there were any more difficult places to play in the world, definitely at that time, than playing as a right back for this Arsenal club.
“In the early 2000s, when I played right back for that Liverpool team, you would see Pires coming inside, Thierry Henry spinning out to this side, and Ashley Cole on the overlap.” And because things moved so swiftly, I would argue that this team was the hardest to play against.
“You have no time to react, and that’s the most difficult thing as a defender,” continued Carragher. As the team’s organizer, I set plans and directed people. There is no time to talk when you are playing against a team that plays this quickly. Information cannot be shared since things move so swiftly.
Additionally, I believe that this Pires, Cole, and Thierry Henry area was disastrous. It gives me nightmares to think about.
