Carragher

[BrooklynRed]

I am going to say the unthinkable, but I believe it is time to move Jamie Carragher out of the starting 11. He is one of my favorite players and a top man, a Liverpool legend who always has the best of the club in his heart and a symbol of every Liverpool fan's own dreams, but he has seriously lost a step at this point. For all of the complaining we did about Gerrard sulking through 2009-10 season, Carragher was fiery and defiant, but too often the game beond him-- bad tackles in dangerous areas, handballs, giving up too many "professional fouls" when better pace and positional play would have done much, much better.

There is no shame in growing older and winding down your career, it happens to all of us, and while this may be a difficult time for us to say so given all of the other circumstances at the club, I think we'd do better with a new LB and Agger/Skrtl in the starting eleven next year. Watching a tired Jozy Altidore blow by a fresh Jamie Carragher last night was a stark reminder of what we saw too often last year-- players punishing Liverpool because Carragher was too slow to make a play. His positional sense is amazing and I don't think he should ever leave the club-- he should be transitioned from sub/ sometime starter to coaching and management asap-- but as much as I hate to say it, I think the game is quickly passing him by.

[CJ]

he has always looked like he is going to give a penalty away however his timing has been immaculate.

It could be time for him not to be an automatic starter. However you need to have someone better to replace him with.

Also remember Sami looked past it and then being used less often he looked great again.

As age catches up with him and considering his style of play we do need to work out how to get the best out of him.

[EwarWoo]

it's funny, last night during the match someone was taking the piss out of carragher just as he ran a player down and moved him off the ball with impeccable timing and positioning.

He'll always have that

[Leyton388]

He is still class but his legs have gone IMO.

[kris90210]

Disagree. He had a bad start to last season, but he came good by the end. Altidore is fast and powerful, he would have done that to a lot of defenders last night. Carragher remained calm and didn't attempt a rash challenge - he did the right thing. Take Baresi. Not the quickest or the strongest and yet arguably the best defender of all time. Carragher has the tactical awarness, leadership and determination to play at the top level for another season or two at least.

Right now we need as many players at the club who actually care. We're lucky to have him.

[Pablo]

Carragher is regressing year on year, no doubt about it. He's getting slower and getting exposed far more regularly. We all saw him get absolutely skinned and out muscled last night but a Hull City reject. It was a worrying sight.

No doubt he still has loads and loads to offer us, but I agree with BrooklynRed, I don't think he is a top, top class CB anymore sadly. If we had the funds I would prefer to see Agger and a new CB with pace and authority (someone like Simon Kjaer maybe) start ahead of him.

Sadly we don't have the funds so unless Skrtel finds his top form again, Carra is still a certain starter for me.

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

Don't write him off just yet.

[Pablo]

I don't think anyone is writing him off, we just think age is naturally taking his toll on him, and in the future we shouldn't rely on him quite so heavily as we do now. Fair enough I think.

[-V-]

Obviously he's not the same player he was a few years ago but he's still good enough. The problem though is that he has been overplayed the past couple of seasons. At times when he needed a rest he was forced to play because we have no other option due to injuries. He has looked tired because a player at his age needs to be managed better.

If we had another top class cb then we wouldnt have this problem

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

Yeah we should look to bring that other Danish centre back in.Man utd have been linked with him again.We wont get him unless those 2 sell up.

[peekay]

Not writing him off. He will be a guaranteed started for another year. But he needs a mascher type presence in front of him. I think both Terry and Carra are used to playing in front of defensively aggressive midfield. Without that cover I can see a lot of pacy players targeting him.

It is one thing being turned inside out by Henry, Torres and Drogba. When you get done by Altidore and Hinds ( west ham guy, maybe my spelling is wrong), one really needs to look at ways to make sure that this does not happen often.

If we want to play attacking football and maintain a high defensive line in the PL, we should not even think about selling Mascher.

[darkstar]

I still think Carra has at least another season as a starter. We missed Sami's aerial presence.

[dww]

Not writing him off. He will be a guaranteed started for another year. But he needs a mascher type presence in front of him. I think both Terry and Carra are used to playing in front of defensively aggressive midfield. Without that cover I can see a lot of pacy players targeting him.

It is one thing being turned inside out by Henry, Torres and Drogba. When you get done by Altidore and Hinds ( west ham guy, maybe my spelling is wrong), one really needs to look at ways to make sure that this does not happen often.

If we want to play attacking football and maintain a high defensive line in the PL, we should not even think about selling Mascher.

I actually think if we sold Mascher and bought in a taller defensive midfielder capable of dropping back into the defense when needed that would suit Carragher much more. Can't think of a suitable player off hand who would be available. Possibilities might be Yaya Toure (but I think other teams will have more pulling power there) or Gilberto Silva (does the role for Brazil but probably left the PL at the right time and isn't going to get better physically at his age).

[Broner]

I just think Carragher has lost a bit of acceleration in the legs but he has still has 2 or 3 years minimum left at the heart of our defence imo.

People underestimated Carra's pace a few years ago, he was quicker than alot of people thought that's for sure.

[Exiled_red]

Sami Hyypia never had great pace but he was a good reader of the game and that's why he was a very good defender and why he was able to play on for so long. Carragher is similar IMO his game isn't reliant on pace so he shouldn't have a problem playing on longer.