EXCLUSIVE: Former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp chats to the ECHO to preview Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United
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Jamie Redknapp during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on May 19, 2024
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
It's a fact that, as he hears it aloud, makes Jamie Redknapp wince and shuffle uneasily in his seat. The former Liverpool captain is chatting to the ECHO via Zoom to preview Sunday's League Cup final with Newcastle United when he is informed that it is in fact 30 years next month since he first won the tournament himself.
For the 10-time winners of this particular competition, that success was back when the trophy was under its Coca-Cola guise, with Steve McManman's brilliance inspiring Roy Evans's Reds to what was Liverpool's fifth triumph, on April 2, 1995, seeing off Championship side Bolton Wanderers in the process.
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For many, the Evans era at Anfield was one of excess, with the Liverpool squad of the time unfairly gaining a reputation as a group who prioritised partying over professionalism.
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The 'Spice Boys' tag, however harsh, eventually stuck and became a stick to beat them with. The now infamous cream suits, worn for the 1996 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United, remain prescient and somewhat defining images for many when it comes to that particular period.
As a result, it's easy to see why the 1995 League Cup has become something of the forgotten trophy at Anfield. Redknapp, though - having learned of its impending 30-year anniversary - is quick to recall the occasion with genuine affection.
"Thirty years!? Ah don't, you're making me feel old now!" he laughs. "It was a great day though. I remember it was my first trophy for Liverpool. We played Bolton that day and we were obviously big favourites, but they had a good cup run and had some good players who could hurt you.
"Alan Thompson had a good career, John McGinley was a threat, Jason McAteer was a good player, so it was a hard game. But luckily enough we had Steve McManaman that day, but it was a great occasion.
"If you would have said in that period, when you looked at the squad and we'd just won the League Cup, you might have said we could have really had a run and dominated there. We probably should have really, we had a lot of good players, Roy was a great manager, great experience and obviously we had an incredible fanbase. So everything was in place, we just didn't really kick on.
"If you look at the [FA] Cup final the following year, if that would have gone our way - which it could have done easily - I know it was a poor game, but it just didn't go our way. But [the 1995 League Cup] was still important because you are a part of the history of the club, we'd won a trophy and when you talk about cup finals, I don't think we've seen many better individual performances than Steve McManaman that day. That second goal was just frightening. Macca was a brilliant player and that was what he could do to teams."
Six years later, as injuries continued to bite down on the career of Redknapp, he was a mere onlooker as Liverpool beat Birmingham City on penalties in another League Cup showpiece to win the first of three trophies under Gerard Houllier in a season that also saw them qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
Liverpool played 63 times in total across 2000/2001, but Redknapp unable to turn out for a single minute, owing to knee surgery undertaken in the weeks of pre-season. By the year 2000, Redknapp was club captain, but the decision to go under the knife with the renowned Dr Richard Steadman, in Colorado, meant he was watching on at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in a club suit, with something he terms "professional jealousy".
"It's such a hard one because of the mixed feelings that go with it and only when you're in that position can you explain it because it is such a tough one," Redknapp says.
"It's what I would call professional jealousy. They are my big friends, I am so pleased for them but you are also thinking I would give anything to just be out there on that pitch.
"Lifting a trophy is not the same when you've got a suit on as it is when you're covered in sweat and mud and bruises and you've won it for your team. So it was tough but it was what it was. It wasn't what I wanted to do but I was also enormously proud to be made captain of Liverpool.
"When I look back at my career...Virgil van Dijk put something up on social media the other week and it was all the list of captains of Liverpool and it had Virgil and Stevie (Gerrard) and then it had me and I thought: 'My God, I captained that club! What an achievement'.
"As a kid, if you'd have said I'd have captained the club after the players who they had, those who were held in such high esteem like Graeme Souness, Alan Hansen, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith and all these names. I did it too.
"Obviously I didn't win as much as I would have liked but I still put that armband on and played in front of 50,000 people and no-one can ever take it away from you."
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 2: Robbie Fowler (left) and Jamie Redknapp of Liverpool celebrate with the trophy after the Coca-Cola League Cup Final between Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on April 2, 1995 in London, England. Liverpool won 2-1. (Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images)
(Image: Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images)
The conversation inevitably turns to the 2025 League Cup final and Redknapp will be part of the Sky Sports team for the Carabao Cup final, which gets underway live on Sunday from 3pm.
The former England midfielder highlights the battle between 19-goal Newcastle frontman Alexander Isak and Reds captain Van Dijk as a key battle, but it is the centre of pitch where the cup will be won and lost, he says.
"I always look at games when I am working and Virgil is a phenomenon and up there with Alan Hansen as the club's best-ever centre-back," Redknapp says.
"He is absolutely incredible but there are few players who give him a problem and it is not just Virgil, because you saw what Alexander Isak did against William Saliba and Gabriel in the semi-finals against Arsenal.
"That is going to be a great battle, Isak played in the 3-3 draw which was a great match. They will go toe-to-toe and they might even go man-for-man in midfield with Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton.
"If Arne Slot goes with Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Gravenberch, that is two top midfields in aspect: power, skills, goals. It will have everything in there, so that will be good. Newcastle have lost their left side which gives Liverpool a big advantage.
"It will be interesting to see what Eddie Howe does there, Kieran Trippier, Tino Livramento or Dan Burn. Trippier might work as he's right footed to block Mo Salah off when he cuts inside. I am a big fan of Eddie Howe and rarely does he get it wrong with his team selection in big games.
"I am sure that Harvey Barnes will play instead of (the suspended) Anthony Gordon. Harvey, I don't know why, it feels like he's had some good games against Liverpool. He can play, he's quick, skillful, he's unfortunate really he hasn't had loads of time, it's just what Gordon has done. I wouldn't underestimate Barnes. He might end up being a really important player."
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Redknapp adds: "It's got a lovely feel to it. Two fanbases who are so big and so loud and that is exactly what you want in the cup final. There's a bit of desperation with Newcastle, with it being 55 years or whatever it is. Liverpool have a worldwide fanbase, it is going to be brilliant and the noise inside Wembley will be amazing this weekend."
It's a Big Weekend of sport on Sky Sports and NOW, featuring the Carabao Cup Final, Arsenal v Chelsea and Leicester City v Manchester United in the Premier League, Old Firm and Steel City derbies, Australian Grand Prix, tennis from Indian Wells, and The Players Championship, all live.