Jamie Carragher gave a rallying speech earlier in the week about a ‘shift’ in footballing patterns in the Premier League – but the Liverpool legend has been made to backtrack on his original opinion after his boyhood side downed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League.
Liverpool went 1-0 down to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League in what looked like a potential fifth loss in a row for Arne Slot in all competitions.
However, goals from Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate turned the game on its head before half-time to give the Reds a commanding lead, before Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai got in on the act.
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It saw the Reds finally get a win on board, their first since beating Southampton in the Carabao Cup almost a month ago – but Jamie Carragher has been left with egg on his face after a statement he made earlier in the week.
Jamie Carragher on punditry duty ahead of a Premier League clash between Manchester City and Wolves
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Jamie Carragher left embarrassed as Liverpool make his set pieces theory redundant vs Frankfurt
Jamie Carragher made a point on Sky Sports’ Monday coverage of West Ham United vs Brentford that top-flight clubs were going back to playing more direct.
Long throw-ins, especially utilised by Brentford in their Premier League since their promotion four years ago, are now being used by other top-flight clubs as an advantage to score.
It could mean teams copy Brentford’s approach, with Leeds needing to start their taller players vs West Ham to capitalise on mistakes.
However, Carragher didn’t take lightly to that method by including ‘set plays’ as part of his analogy. He said: “A lot of people in football have almost had enough of everyone trying to play pretty football.
“I was frustrated with every team almost trying to play the same type of football.
“And I think we’ve gone back, which is fine, but I think we’ve gone too far back in terms of set plays, long throw-ins, and kick-offs into the corner flag.”
However, watching Liverpool dismantle Frankfurt immediately disproved Carragher’s theory. Whilst Hugo Ekitike’s goal was via a swift counter-attack, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both scored headers from corners within five minutes of one another to put Liverpool ahead.
Carragher’s words would have baffled many, but the Scouse native saw the funny side. He posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Just to clarify, I meant throw ins not corners!”.
Carragher, who played in 737 games for Liverpool in all competitions, will want to see his team win at any cost, even if it does prove his opinion wrong.
Aston Villa v Sheffield United - Premier League
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Jamie Carragher’s Premier League opinion on set pieces being outdated was baffling
Set pieces have played a huge part of the Premier League’s entire history, and although statistics are pointing towards more teams using them, it’s not uncommon.
Jamie Carragher alluded to Arsenal utilising corners successfully in Monday’s Sky Sports coverage, and they have done so to great effect, which is a reason why they are sat top of the Premier League table.
Stoke City’s Rory Delap was the pioneer of long throw-ins, with his javelin-esque deliveries hurting teams back in the 2008-09 campaign, and now Brentford have taken the approach as a major beneficiary of their style.
With Liverpool boasting Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in their ranks, they put that to good effect in the Champions League – but capitalising on set pieces has never, and will never, be an old tactic.