Out of all the high-profile England players to retire in recent years, Jamie Carragher appeared to be one of the most suited to becoming a manager.
Xabi Alonso, one of the game’s most intelligent players, spoke recently about much he and Carragher would watch games together when they were teammates at Liverpool.
“We got on well from day one. I think he realised that I loved football and he loves football too,” Alonso said in Ring of Fire, a new book about Liverpool players in the 21st century by Simon Hughes.
“We would watch games together and talk about it every day. I think he respected that I would enter arguments with him. He was always very loud; you could hear his voice above everyone else’s.”
Carragher has conveyed his football knowledge over the past three years as a pundit on Sky Sports. The former Liverpool defender also has the pedigree of winning numerous trophies during his career, the respect of his peers and is capable of articulating his knowledge.
There’s no guarantee that these qualities would equate to a successful managerial career, but Carragher appears to have the potential to make a good fist of it.
However, his media work has taken precedent and there appears to be no sign of Carragher making the move into the dugout – unlike his Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville, who tried his hand at management with Valencia last season.
A passage from Ring of Fire offers insight into why Carragher isn’t ready to become a manager just yet.
According to the book’s author, the “guilt” Carragher experienced after a poor result when he was a player explains why the 38-year-old has, so far, chosen to focus on being a pundit for Sky Sports, rather than become a manager.
“That’s the one thing I enjoy about not playing: not suffering the disappointment,” Carragher tells Hughes.
“The low of the disappointment was more extreme than the high of the victory. When you did well, you felt only relief.
“You were happy that your head wasn’t going to be battered for a week. You could get on with your life, take the kids to school – everything was fine. It wasn’t as if you were buzzing. The worries went away for a short time. When we lost, I only felt enormous guilt. It was horrible.”
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