[lfc-news] Carragher back on Red alert

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Carragher back on Red alert
By Patrick Barclay
(Filed: 25/09/2005)
http://sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?
view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/sport/2005/09/25/sfncar25.xml

All we can ask on Wednesday, as dusk falls over Stanley Park, the
redbrick terraces, the deserted pubs and chippies and the locked-out
kids who hear the roar swell, is that Anfield resumes where it
finished on the unforgettable May night when Liverpool knocked
Chelsea out of the Champions League.

Over two legs that constituted a triumph of dramatic tension over
goalmouth incident, only one man had scored: Luis Garcia, scrappily,
controversially (for Chelsea swore the ball did not cross the line)
but to the satisfaction of the Czech referee. And so, as a deafening
occasion entered the fifth of six stoppage-time minutes with Chelsea
striving for an away goal that would rip the glory from their hosts'
hands, stunning the stadium just as Arsenal had done when they
snatched the English title in 1989, Anfield was gripped by the
anxiety that impels even atheists to glance at the heavens. Suddenly
the ball fell to Eidur Gudjohnsen and hearts leapt into the mouths
of 40,000 Merseysiders. But let Jamie Carragher, who was the nearest
of them to Gudjohnsen, take up the story.

"Actually,'' said the Liverpool defender, "if Gudjohnsen had been on
target with his shot, he'd have done well to get it in, because it
was from an angle and a couple of us were guarding the line. But I
only know that now. At the time, I didn't exactly know where I was.
Obviously I was looking at Gudjohnsen as he drew back his foot, but
I could also see the main stand behind him, all those faces framing
him, everyone taking a deep breath. Everything just stopped for a
second, and then went into slow motion. To be honest, I was
terrified of getting a touch on the ball in case it went in.
Sometimes you have those moments as it's whipped across when you're
not sure what to do - you're caught in two minds - and this was one.
Anyway, it missed me and it just missed Didier Drogba at the far
post. I didn't even know he was there! I landed on the floor, head
in the grass.'' Nearly five months on, the recollection induced a
giggle and a sigh. ''If Gudjohnsen had scored, or Drogba been able
to poke it in, Chelsea would have gone to the final - and I'd have
probably slit my wrists! But it wasn't meant to be.''

What was meant to be - there is no worldly explanation for such a
transformation in the fortunes of European finalists - happened in
Istanbul three weeks later. Milan, brilliantly prompted by Kaka and
with Andriy Shevchenko and Hernan Crespo tormenting Carragher and
Sami Hyypia, led 3-0 at half-time and Carragher is honest enough to
confess that, while listening to Rafa Benitez's words of
encouragement, he was giving himself a quick history lesson: "I
remembered Milan had beaten a couple of teams 4-0 in finals - Steaua
Bucharest in 1989 and Barcelona in 1994 - and hoped we wouldn't go
one or two worse.'' In fact they drew level, survived an Italian
resurgence by dint, not least, of Carragher's heroism - one second
he was crippled by cramp, the next sprinting to thwart the lightning-
quick Shevchenko - and won a penalty decider stage-managed by this
indefatigable competitor, who instructed his goalkeeper, Jerzy
Dudek, to set aside the gentlemanly habits of a lifetime and employ
every black art in the interests of distracting the
opposition. "When the Champions League is at stake,'' explained
Carragher, "you do everything you can, whether it's called
gamesmanship or cheating, to put the opposition off.''

On that night Carragher, in helping Dudek, Steven Gerrard and all
the other heroes to complete an extraordinary journey, seemed to
embody the tradition of England's most decorated club. Liverpool may
have fallen so far behind Chelsea as to trail the champions by 37
points at the end of last season, but a force greater than the
technical factors that affect football will be awaiting Jose
Mourinho's players when they revisit Anfield this week. Carragher
made an immediate impression on Benitez's predecessor, Gerard
Houllier, when the Frenchman arrived at Anfield in 1998. Houllier
saw in him a throwback to the days when strong characters - Emlyn
Hughes, Tommy Smith and later Houllier's own choice as assistant,
Phil Thompson - drove Liverpool from the back. But Carragher, while
he never performed with anything less than the passion of a convert -
he had grown up following Everton - had a talent regarded as
respectable rather than special. Even when he played for England, he
filled in; when his name came up, it was usually in the context of
versatility. But those magnificent Champions League performances -
"there are certain games when you have to find that little extra'' -
placed him on a new level of appreciation here and abroad, so an
even longer season beckons the 27-year-old Carragher, with a World
Cup at the end of it. Only under Benitez has he settled in central
defence; Houllier tended to use him at full-back, right or
left. "Gerard possibly saved my Anfield career,'' said
Carragher, "because we had Sami Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz in the
middle and I wasn't going to break that partnership. I'd never
played full-back, but I learned a lot. It's an undervalued position
because you probably see more of the ball than anyone else. If the
team's in trouble, you're always on. If you're a full-back for a top
team and can't pass, you'll stand out a mile. Gerard doesn't get
enough credit for what he did for me. I've still got his number and
sent him a message before Lyon beat Real Madrid. I hope they do well
in the Champions League, because I think he's an excellent manager.
If I ever become involved in coaching or management, I'll take a lot
from Gerard.'' Now he learns from Benitez. Last week they studied on
video the work of the Italian defensive maestro Franco Baresi, with
whom Carragher identifies in the sense that, being unable to rely on
exceptional size or speed, he had to think hard.

And now for Chelsea: first in the Champions League and then, next
Sunday, back at Anfield in the Premiership. Liverpool have as little
to fear from Mourinho's team as any. As Carragher said: "We heard
Mourinho put '33' up in the dressing-room in May, to indicate the
gulf in points. But we showed what can be bridged. In fact we did
all right in every game against Chelsea last season. We were 11
minutes away from beating them in the Carling Cup final when a freak
[Gerrard's own-goal] saved them.''

The Champions League, once again, would be subject to fine
margins: "One decision is all it takes. Like when the referee missed
the foul on the Barcelona goalkeeper and Chelsea went through.'' The
best team would not always win. "Look at Arsenal. The best team I've
ever played against. Better than any team we've had at Liverpool for
a decade or more. The great Manchester United teams, the Chelsea of
now, Juventus or Milan - I'd rather face any of them than Arsenal
when they turn it on.'' So why had Arsene Wenger's men fallen
short? "Some teams, like Barcelona, are too attacking, too open. You
only need one bad game defensively and you're out. Last season
Arsenal had theirs in Munich.'' So who, setting Liverpool aside,
would Anfield's most avid student of football tip for the Champions
League? "Chelsea. Because the thing is to be strong defensively and
they are the strongest at the moment. Possibly the best I've seen in
our league, just edging George Graham's Arsenal with Tony Adams.
John Terry's a fantastic player.''

Liverpool, though, are determined not to surrender the crown yet.
Carragher least of all, given his role in the accession. "I've
watched the final four or five times,'' he said. "The first half
gets fast-forwarded! They were too good for us, particularly Kaka.
Then we get a goal out of nothing, I don't even celebrate, just run
back. Then Vladi Smicer scores and the belief starts to rise. And
when I watch Xabi Alonso convert the penalty, I'm almost crying.'' I
reminded Carragher that, before the kick, he tried to get a player
sent off; how did that look on the video? "I got the wrong man! The
foul had been Rino Gattuso - and there I was pointing at Alessandro
Nesta, screaming at the ref to send him off!'' But was it wrong to
have done it at all? "No, no, no. You try to get as much advantage
as possible. It's not cheating. Same with Jerzy and the penalties. I
mean, Jerzy's a really nice fellow. Probably too nice. But when
you've a chance to win the Champions League you do everything you
can. So I told him to mess with the ball, make them take time. I
said 'You haven't been booked - get a booking. Kick the ball away.
Don't be Mr Nice Guy standing on the line. Make yourself a
nuisance.' I told him to remember Grobbelaar. Jerzy seemed to know
all about Bruce's antics in the 1984 final in Rome - he said he'd
seen them on television - and sure enough he does this dance on the
line. He also came out a couple of times to mess with the ball.''
And came off his line, without being punished by the officials;
sometimes, after the best part of two hours, they seem to get as
tired as the players.

It was a pleasure to chew all this over with Carragher. As well as
being a professional to his fingertips, he is good company. Mad
about the game too: an absolute certainty to succeed in management.
In short, a representative of all the best traditions. Claudio
Ranieri used to say so. Asked for his idea of the perfect English
footballer, the erstwhile Chelsea manager would grin broadly and
reply: "Ah - Carragher!'' And smack fist on palm. Quite right. Amid
all the badge-kissing, referee-baiting losers, Carragher is a
winner. With Europe's biggest medal to prove it.

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