Jamie Carragher is set to to retire at the end of this season and has drawn in pretty of praise from football men.
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that he admires Carragher and compares him with our former captain, Steve Bruce.
“He’s absolutely a player I admire,” Sir Alex told the club’s official website. “He’s the epitome of a loyal, dedicated player who Liverpool have been lucky to have for more than a decade. He’s been a bedrock of their defensive qualities for years and years. I loved him. He’s a fantastic example for any young lad that wants to play the game. He’s been a really, really good professional. He’s absolutely the type of player a manager wants. I used to rave about Brucie and the nine years he had with us, and I think Jamie Carragher is that exact same mould – can play with injuries, gets knocked about and gets back up, hardly misses a game. You’re lucky to have players like that. I was lucky to have Steve Bruce and he is the same type of player. A fantastic player.”
These words will mean an awful lot to Carragher as they are feelings he reciprocates, with the Liverpool legend repeatedly talking of his respect for Ferguson throughout his career.
“I love talking about the game, learning things from people, but there’s always a mystique about people you haven’t had the chance to speak to,” he said in 2010. “The likes of Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, I could talk to them all day and that’s one reason I answered the call from Fabio Capello to go to the World Cup. I wanted to see him at close quarters.”
This isn’t the only time Carragher has sung his praises.
“I’ve got more respect for Ferguson than anyone else in the game,” he said in 2008. “He’s like a Scouser, really. He’s funny, doesn’t mind telling people to fuck off, and he even votes Labour. I love him. It’s like the ultimate football man’s dream to be better than Ferguson because he is the master. I just hope he hangs around long enough to wait for me.”
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