Jamie Carragher’s comments over whether Liverpool will give him a new contract or not have of course raised a stir among Liverpool fans. He commented in the Sunday Times:
“The club will give me a new contract if they want to. If not, it doesn’t matter, I’ll still play my best and if I have to move then I’ll move, no problem. It wouldn’t bother me.”
Some would see these comments as surprising considering Carra’s career long loyalty to Liverpool Football Club, but if you really look at what he says, it is a dilemma for all footballers who only have a few years left in top level football. The most likely situation will be that Carra will be given a one year contract extension beyond the end of next season and this would take him up until he is 34 years of age at the end of 2011/2012 season. The question which will be on the mind of the centre-back though will be whether he is prepared to play fewer games and become more of a squad player like the great Sami Hyypia did at the end of his stay at Anfield. The pull of wanting to play your final years in football as a first team regular or the hold of staying loyal to a club which you have served with such distinction over the years, will be the dilemma on his mind. This was the context in which Carra said he would have ‘no problem’ in moving away from Anfield.
The fundamental conflict between his footballing instincts and his club loyalty will decide his future at Liverpool. As Carra has said, he is not afraid to make big decisions:
“I made the England decision quickly and didn’t dwell on it and I’m not scared of making big decisions. It’s a club thing. It’s down to them. I’ll keep playing and see where it takes me.”
It was a footballing decision, due to his lack of starting eleven opportunities, and to prolong his Liverpool career he decided to quit England. Going by both his actions and recent comments, Carra is nothing but a pragmatist and it seems that if he feels he won’t be in the first team as regularly in the future at Liverpool, he will consider his options. Of course a lot of this depends on Rafa Benitez; he will be the man who determines whether Carra has an extended stay at Anfield. He showed with Sami Hyypia that with players in their thirties, despite their illustrious careers, he is not afraid to reduce their playing time in favour of younger players. The fact that Sami has gone on to lead a Bayer Leverkusen to great success in Germany showed that his best playing days weren’t behind him despite his age. Hyypia’s situation will certainly be in the mind of Carragher, another Liverpool great with a similar predicament.
Certainly a lot of this is irrelevant if Carragher continues to play at a tremendously high level. It is generally assumed though, that age gets the best of even the most high quality player. Carra’s game has never relied on pace but on fantastic anticipation and positioning, but the same could have been said of Hyypia. The judgement of Benitez will be crucial on this, when is the right time to move on to the next generation and allow players such as Agger, Skrtel or perhaps even Simon Kjaer to form a formidable, younger defensive partnership? As Carragher himself says, much will depend on his performances, something that Rafa also believes to be the case:
“We’re happy to wait. When you talk about players over 30 it’s not the same as those who are 25 or goalkeepers, who will have a long-term contract. With Carra, we will wait and see.”
“Wait and see” will be the operative phrase for Liverpool fans.
