carra

[Philosophia]

Dare I say it, Carra has been living on his reputation and the afterglow of Istanbul for too long. His undoubted bravery and commitment mask the absence of some basic skills, including passing and running with the ball. The number of times that Carra simply hoofs the ball up field into no-man's land is shocking. I think that Agger and Skertel are beginning to show him up, and that over the course of this season, and certainly next, they will become the first choice pairing at the back, with Carra relegated to right back and Carling cup appearances.

[Elvoz]

Dare I say it, Carra has been living on his reputation and the afterglow of Istanbul for too long. His undoubted bravery and commitment mask the absence of some basic skills, including passing and running with the ball. The number of times that Carra simply hoofs the ball up field into no-man's land is shocking. I think that Agger and Skertel are beginning to show him up, and that over the course of this season, and certainly next, they will become the first choice pairing at the back, with Carra relegated to right back and Carling cup appearances.

get ya tin hat on fella ....

[Dessy]

Our back 4 as a unit were well below average last night, to the point of we could easily be out of the CL if it was not for a combination of Pepe saving our arse and woeful finishing from them.

True. But we sorely missed that protection in front of them that we have had from mascher with the 4231 formation. Benny and Dirk didn't offer any protection to our FB,s, Alonso aint the greatest when not in possession and Plessis looked a little ordinary and out of his comfort zone.

Rather than any individual being at fault it was just a very poor TEAM performace.

[lucas]

I love Carra as much as the next man and think he is a living legend. But his form has not been good for the last 2 seasons. I thought he was poor last night, outmuscled by an average striker and what was with all the long balls. He also gave away far too many penalties last year.

I hope Skrtle & Agger will be as good as everyone thinks they will be.

[Angryred]

get ya tin hat on fella ....

And the flak jacket!

[BobTheCharmer]

not an easy reactionary knocking thread but if i had to pick something to worry about i'd pick carra tonight. can't see why he's been nominated for MOM in the MOM thread. if you leave out settling in, nerves, not clicking at all and all the other elements that were disappointing about tonight would've really hoped that carra would have been a bit more solid. so shaky at the start and outmuscled loads of times. life wothout sami is tough for him.

Yet still our best defender last night by a country mile.

He kept his passing simple and knocked the ball out of play whenever necessary. Yes he got beat to a few headers but I thought he was the calmest of a poor bunch. Its hard to knock Carra when he's got a liability at right full back, a centre back returning after 11 months out and an italian stalion looking like he's been shat on by the handicapper at aintree. He must be a good 2 stone over weight.

[badpiggy]

couple of free headers in what appeared to be his "zone" as well.

[Redspin]

Dare I say it, Carra has been living on his reputation and the afterglow of Istanbul for too long. His undoubted bravery and commitment mask the absence of some basic skills, including passing and running with the ball. The number of times that Carra simply hoofs the ball up field into no-man's land is shocking. I think that Agger and Skertel are beginning to show him up, and that over the course of this season, and certainly next, they will become the first choice pairing at the back, with Carra relegated to right back and Carling cup appearances.

Well said - a welcome sensible post in an ocean of dross. Unfortunately players like Carragher acquire a reputation way beyond their actual abilities and any poor performances are simply glossed over. He has been a fine servant, but his performance level dropped alarmingly at times last season. How many penalties did he give away in the end? He was fortunate not to concede more on numerous occasions through rash challenges and, conversely, his non-challenge when he failed criminally to close down the Barnsley player for their second goal would have led to a witch hunt if it had been, say, Riise, but good old Carra gets away with it. I think this will be his last season as a first team regular

[blacky]

Well said - a welcome sensible post in an ocean of dross. Unfortunately players like Carragher acquire a reputation way beyond their actual abilities and any poor performances are simply glossed over. He has been a fine servant, but his performance level dropped alarmingly at times last season. How many penalties did he give away in the end? He was fortunate not to concede more on numerous occasions through rash challenges and, conversely, his non-challenge when he failed criminally to close down the Barnsley player for their second goal would have led to a witch hunt if it had been, say, Riise, but good old Carra gets away with it. I think this will be his last season as a first team regular

I think Carra played too many games last year. He is the one player along with maybe gerrard who Rafa has been guilty of overlooking to a degree with his rotation policy. I think Rafa will protect him more this year using Skrtl/Agger/Sami. Don't write him off just yet.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Dare I say it, Carra has been living on his reputation and the afterglow of Istanbul for too long. His undoubted bravery and commitment mask the absence of some basic skills, including passing and running with the ball. The number of times that Carra simply hoofs the ball up field into no-man's land is shocking. I think that Agger and Skertel are beginning to show him up, and that over the course of this season, and certainly next, they will become the first choice pairing at the back, with Carra relegated to right back and Carling cup appearances.

certainly carra's distribution isn't the greatest ( and when you think he used to be a midfielder as well ) but his defensive play has been nothing short of fantastic over the past 5 years. his pace, at least what pace he has, is starting to leave him but look at how good sami has been with hardly any real pace. agger and skrtel will IMO end the season as rafa's first choice pairing barring injuries with carra at right back. i still see carra being an integral part of our defense for another couple of season before he settles into the "Carling cup appearences" category.






p.s. Carra=Legend

[Philosophia]

p.s. Carra=Legend

Agreed, but that might be the point. Honestly, I have been surprised by the absence of hostility in the responses to my original post. I wonder if that reflects a general feeling that I was onto something, or a reluctance similar to that which marks an unwillingness to engage with the ramblings of a homeless guy wearing a tinfoil hat and screaming about socialism....

[El Jefecito]

As someone else said, the midfield was complete dross, the poor performance of both the attacking and defensive units was either symptomatic and/or exacerbated by that.

[kingfunk]

Il put my head on the block, But i would have agger and skrtel as first choise centre backs. carra is a legend, but his time has come to make way for the young guns, his lack of pace is a liabilty. Its not an easy choice, but one that has to be made.

[-V-]

Some of the comments on here about Carra are ridiculous. There is no way that he is past it. He is first choice and should be no doubt.

The FACT IS that he played the start of last season whilst suffering from broken ribs and without a good partner like Agger. Too often he was covering for Hyypia's lack of pace and this affected Carra's game. He was made to play way too many games last season because we were missing Agger.

Carra will have a top notch season this time around because he has Agger and Skrtle to rotate with and get his rest. He will be key for us.

Some of you don't have a clue what your talking about

[kingfunk]

I know he is going to be first choice this seaon and i hope that you are right in saying he is going to be key for us, But against the other top three and other teams with pacey forwards i just think that he will be caught out on the turn too often, when the opposition holds a good defence line i dont think he can cope with the pace of a good threaded ball to a pacey forward.