Now often seen working in punditry, Jamie Carragher enjoyed a 17-year career as a footballer before embarking on his current ventures. The defender spent nine years with the youth academy of Liverpool, his hometown club, debuting for the senior side in 1996. Carragher retired as a one-club man, never representing a team other than the Reds.
Carragher debuted as a full-back, earning a starting place in the team during the 1997/98 campaign and soon displaying his comfort at playing either in central defence or even defensive midfield. After Rafa Benitez arrived as manager, however, Carragher started to play solely as a centre-back and soon found the best form of his career.
An England international, Carragher had won honours with the Reds under Gerard Houllier’s guidance. With Benitez, though, Carragher won the Champions League. In 2005, Carragher started the final against AC Milan, in which Liverpool fought back from three goals down to win on penalties in a match many consider to be the best Champions League final ever.
Carragher, who was nominated for the Ballon d’Or that year, remained a consistent defender at Anfield until he retired in 2013. An experienced player who has won at the highest level of European football, Carragher’s insights as a pundit are generally well-respected.
In 2022, as per The Telegraph, Carragher, writing after England drew 0-0 with the United States in that year’s World Cup, reflected on a Liverpool hero that, in his opinion, could never quite replicate his domestic form on international duty.
‘He Was a Shadow of Himself’
Carragher looks back at icon’s international career
John Barnes
Like Carragher, John Barnes is one of the best to ever play for Liverpool. A left-winger, Barnes joined Watford as a teenager in 1981 to start his professional career. Across six years with the Hornets, Barnes established himself as an exciting talent and in 1987, the attacker moved to Liverpool for just under £1 million.
Barnes would spend a decade at Liverpool, helping them win two FA Cups and two First Division titles, in the years soon before the birth of the Premier League. Though injury disrupted his final seasons with the club, Barnes was consistently brilliant for the Reds and ranks as Liverpool’s 13th-highest scorer in history, according to Transfermarkt.
John Barnes Career Stats For Liverpool and For England
Appearances
Goals
Assists
It would have been impossible for England to ignore Barnes due to his quality, with the winger earning his first call-up to the Three Lions in 1983, during his time with Watford. In Carragher’s opinion, however, for all of Barnes’ ability, he never seemed to shine as bright when on international duty. The former defender said:
"Between 1987-91, Barnes was not only the most talented England player of his generation, he was streets ahead of the rest. Think of Thierry Henry during his peak years at Arsenal. That is how good Barnes was for Liverpool.
“Yet for England, he was a shadow of himself. The question was often asked whether the problem was Barnes or England. Surely it cannot be so difficult to accommodate a rare talent?"
Barnes played in two World Cups and two European Championships for England, appearing in over 75 games across 12 years. The winger certainly spent a large chunk of his career as an international player but many, like Carragher, wonder if more could have been done were the circumstances different.
( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 16/06/2025 )
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