20 Feb 2008

Another day - Another Carra soundbyte clogging up the press. Let the barely deserved back-slapping begin!

Jamie Carragher just can’t keep his mouth shut these days. If he’s not consistently whining to the press about low confidence or Liverpool’s deep seated problems, he’s on all fours worshipping someone as 'the best in the world'. Every day it seems there’s another Carragher soundbyte clogging up the media and to be honest, it’s becoming monumentally irritating.

Carra’s latest fawning comments came after yesterday’s Inter Milan victory. He drooled:

“Steven Gerrard is one of the best players in the world and I think he is made for the Champions League, when all the top teams come up against us. You see some of the names they (Inter) have got and he is the one that does the decisive thing at the end of the game. There were a lot of world class players out there on both teams and he stole the show again.”

What is it with Liverpool players?! Every time the team wins seem desperate to big each other up in the press.

The same thing happened after the Marseille victory a few months ago – Carragher, Gerrard, Kuyt and Torres engaged in a sickening public display of mutual affection that was, quite frankly, embarrassing, especially given the turgid performances fans have had to endure ever since.

Why can’t the team just enjoy the victory without all the sensationalized fanfare!? Why is there this constant need for sycophantic, ego-inflating back-slapping?

I think Carragher needs to be reminded of a couple of things:

1. LIVERPOOL WON AGAINST 10 MEN. AT HOME
2. INTER MILAN WERE A MAN SHORT FOR 60 MINUTES.

Winning in such circumstances is not an amazing achievement. The victory was not a superhuman feat of footballing excellence as the press would have everyone believe. It was to be EXPECTED. Any team playing with an extra man advantage for 60 minutes at home is REQUIRED to win. Anything else is a failure, it’s as simple as that.

So Carragher and his boastful colleagues should remember that before they start blowing their own trumpets.

Going back to Carragher’s comments, I think the following line is worthy of further analysis:

“Steven Gerrard is one of the best players in the world and I think he is made for the Champions League, when all the top teams come up against us”.

Just what is Carragher suggesting – that Gerrard only raises his game against top opposition in the Champions League? If so, why is this something to praise?

It’s all well and good scoring against 10 men in the CL, but I’d much rather Gerrard had an impact against the likes of West Ham, Reading, Aston Villa and Manchester City. If he did, then maybe Liverpool’s season wouldn’t be such a disaster.

And don't get me started on Dirk Kuyt; he's another player who loves the sound of his own voice, and like Carragher, he ALWAYS has something to say after every game.

He's been through a tough time - WE GET IT. The team is capable of playing better - WE GET IT. He's annoyed about being left out of the Holland squad - WE FRICKIN' GET IT.

SHUT UP ALREADY! Get on with improving your performances and spare us the self-serving propoganda.


6 comments:

  1. How are you a Liverpool fan?! You hate them!!

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  2. Nah - I don't hate them, though I appreciate it can seem that way. I'm an old-school fan; I hate modern football and all its excesses, and I hate how Liverpool FC's fundamental values are being slowly eroded over time.

    I believe in the Shankly way of doing things and I can't stand to see everything that has made Liverpool great over the years sacrificed by players like Gerrard, who are selfish, self absorbed and the complete antithesis of what Liverpool is all about.

    I take a critical view because there needs to be a critical voice to add to the endless eulogising and player deification.

    I judge today's Liverpool players and management by the standard set yeart ago, which explains why I'm so critical. I refute the contention that because football has changed, the club's entire philosophy has to change.

    Liverpool are bcoming unrecognisable compared to the club it used to be, and for me, this is a tragedy.

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  3. What ideally would you like to see happen to with the club then?

    Theres no way you could go back to the 'old days' and have any level of success in today's league, so would you rather they change and you drop into mid-table obscurity?

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  4. Jamie, if I were you I'd change the comment policy on your blog so that people can't post comments anonymously - it's lazy and encourages thoughtless comments so no one is identifiable or responsible for anything stupid they say.

    I agree with a lot of things you say but disagree on others too. Here, I think somebody like Carra being honest and saying "it's not good enough" could give certain players a kick up the backside.

    On the other hand, I agree with you that the ridiculous praise and self-adulation that goes on whenever we actually manage to win a game is ridiculous. Win 10 games in a row and then start boasting.

    This Liverpool teams talks the best game I've ever seen. Shame they can't play one.

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  5. Anonymous - Retaining the values of the club doesn't mean mediocrity will inevitably follow. First and foremost, the club has to be bigger than any individual, and at the moment it isn't. Players like Steven Gerrard wield too much power, and everything is done to apease or accommodate them. You just have to examine the two Chelsea flirtations to see how Rick Parry et al elevated Gerrard to untouchable status. Players overshadowing clubs has to stop. It never used to be that way in the past and it doesn't need to be that way now. The Managers Liverpool have had since Dalglish have all, in their own way, kowtowed to player power. Liverpool need an Alex Ferguson type Manager - someone who doesn't take any crap whatsoever. History proves that Managers with that sort of attitude are winners, i.e. Ferguson, Shankly, Clough, George Graham, Mourinho etc - the one thing these Managers have in common? They've won the league. Rafa is also stubborn but he's also completely inflexible with his managerial style. He seems to think that he can just import his methods fro Valencia and everything will be hunky dory. Well, it doesn't work that way, as Rafa's repeated failure in the league proves.

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  6. Hey Evanscent

    Re Carra - I see what you're saying, but I've never seen the logic in the 'but he's just being honest' argument. What does it achieve exactly? Carra has been moaning in the press on an almost daily basis for weeks. Also, in his most recent negative comments, he impled that there were deeper problems within the club. I just don't see what he has to gain by saying such things. The only thing I can think of is he is he is attempting to exert indirect pressure on Rafa.

    In all my time as a fan, I've never seen such a constant stream of negativity from senior players. As I see it, Carra and Gerrard seem to think that because they're locals, they care more, and thus have the right to moan about stuff in public. For me, that argument is pure nonsense; they're supposed to be leaders and inspirers; they should be inspiring...not just the players, but the fans as well. Everyone knows things have been bad - Carra stating the obvious and wallowing in negativity helps no one.

    Real leaders don't behave this way. As Shankly said once, “A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.”

    Does Carra display this type of mentality? I don't think so.

    Overall, too many Liverpool players are splashed across the press every day, more so than any other premiership club. I'm always reading about how there's some kind of media vendetta against LFC; well, if there is, it is self inflicted alot of the time as result of ill advised comments from players and managers.

    Totally agree with you about the current team and their self-adulation. That's something that particularly irritates me. After every victory, every player is the best in the world and blah blah blah. This goes back to what I said in my fitst comment - this is not the Liverpool way. Humility and humbleness in victory are what Liverpool are (or used to be) all about.

    All this ridiculous, self-indulgent praise will just make neutral despise any success Liverpool have, just as neutrals despise the likes of Chelsea and Manure...

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