Jamie Carragher raised eyebrows when he snubbed Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler, and Michael Owen after being asked to name the best finisher he ever played with. The legendary centre-back made 737 appearances for Liverpool during a 17-year career that delivered a Champions League, UEFA Cup, two European Super Cups, two FA Cups, and three League Cups.
A true Reds icon, Carragher came up against some of the Premier League’s deadliest strikers - but just as many elite finishers tested him daily on the Melwood training ground. Even during Liverpool’s wilderness years - those three, long, title-less decades - the club still boasted a fertile crop of warheads, each trying to drag the Reds toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
Ultimately, no one quite managed to fire Liverpool to the summit during Carra’s playing days. It wasn’t until his punditry career that he got to witness Jurgen Klopp - and now Arne Slot - restore the Liverbird to its perch as England's most successful club. Still, even in the lean years, there was no shortage of golden finishers.
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Carragher Named John Barnes As Best Finisher He Played With
'Digger' was better known for his dribbling ability during his playing days
John Barnes
Carragher named John Barnes - England's player of the 1980s - as the best finisher he played with, though he acknowledged first and foremost that the winger was better known for his gracious dribbling ability.
“Technically, he’s the best player I’ve ever trained or played with, he was great with both feet, they were both exactly the same," the 47-year-old told Football 365 in 2020. He continued:
"I’d say he’s the best finisher I’ve ever played with (including Torres, Fowler, Owen). Barnes never used to blast his shots - they’d just get placed right in the corner. You speak with the players from those great Liverpool sides and ask them who the best player they played with was and they all say John Barnes.”
John Barnes' Liverpool Career
He contributed to 207 goals in 407 appearances
John Barnes
In the summer of 1987, Kenny Dalglish agreed a fee of £900,000 to bring John Barnes to Anfield, where he would soon link up with fellow new recruits Peter Beardsley and John Aldridge to form one of the most attacking and electrifying forward lines Liverpool had ever seen. “Kenny recalled one game when I beat Alan Hansen to score,” Barnes once said. “After that match, Kenny said to Alan: ‘We’ll sign that John Barnes.’”
The rest, as they say, is history. First lighting up the pitch as a left-winger, and later reinventing himself as a cultured midfielder when injuries threatened to ground his flight, ‘Digger’ - nicknamed after the popular 'Dallas' soap opera character - became one of the most skilful and influential British footballers of all time.
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He scored 108 goals and registered 99 assists in 407 appearances, helping the Reds to two league titles, two FA Cups, and a League Cup, while scooping both the 1988 PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards.
His England debut came in 1983, aged 20, and he earned 79 caps. Few moments shine brighter than his magical solo goal on 10 June 1984, when he slalomed past the Brazilian defence and rounded Roberto Costa to score at the Maracana, sealing England’s only away win against the World Cup’s most decorated team.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt (correct as of 22/06/2025)