Does another role lie in wait for this Liverpool great?

With Jamie Carragher’s testimonial imminent; with less than a year left on his current deal – and with his 33rd birthday less than 6 months away – could it be time for our vice-captain and the club to think about his longer-term future?

Looking back, Carragher has come a long way since his early days as a Liverpool trainee. Coming into the side on a consistent basis, around the same time as Michael Owen, he had a lot to live up to and his first few years were less than ideal, with incidents off the pitch being the most notable (remember that Christmas party?). On the pitch, Carragher was often the recipient of the same kind of treatment youngsters like Lucas receive now; with the criticism of his every pass and tackle unnecessarily harsh. Whether at left or right back, occasionally filling in, in other positions, Carragher was seen by many fans as one of the weak links, and his versatility often more a negative than a positive. But with the arrival of Gerard Houllier, Jamie’s career took an unimaginable upturn. Over the next 10 years, the young man from Bootle would carve out a piece of history for himself, and battle his way into the record books as a Liverpool great.

Carragher has spoken in the past of his desire to enter coaching, mentioning he intends to take his coaching badges while he’s still playing. Indeed, John Owens has been quoted in the past as saying:

“He’s actually doing his coaching badges at the moment, so he comes here and works with 15 and 16 year olds with Dave Shannon.  He’s getting in some practice and he wants to get back into the game once he hangs up his boots. It will be fantastic if and when he does.”

Given that this quote was attributed to Owens back in 2008, it would seem that Carragher is already some way along that road. The Academy manager also suggests that Carragher was thinking of waiting until he’s retired before getting back into the game as a coach, but I’m not so sure that would be a good idea for him. As once a player leaves football – taking a break for a year or two – he will often find it difficult to get straight back in at the top-level. Like he appears to be doing now, it may be better for Carragher to cut his teeth at the top, working with the top-class staff at his own club by taking up a coaching role sooner rather than later. Of course, there is always the chance that no such offer would be made, but given that the club is already assisting him (and the offer previously made to Hyypia) it would seem the club are open to this.

However, as evidenced by his retirement from international football 3 years ago (and subsequent re-retirement), he also intends to prolong his playing career for the for-seeable future. This is entirely the man’s own prerogative but with the English game becoming remorselessly fast – and with Carragher being a player that has never been blessed with pace – the last few months of the next season or two may start to wear on him. In the same way it did with Sami Hyypia and Didi Hamann before him; neither of whom possessed great speed or pace. Like both those players, Carragher may well become a 20 game a season player as 40+ 90 minutes per season become too much for his body to handle.  That said it would be unwise to retire Jamie prematurely, as he still has plenty to give as a player but perhaps a step back from playing 40+ games per season in the next 12 months or so would be wise for both club and player. With two capable international centre backs – Agger and Skrtel – ready to step up, and the young Scot, Wilson and experienced and popular  Kyrgiakos in reserve the club is seemingly well-endowed in that department but Carragher’s experience and personality would be a huge loss should he think about looking elsewhere for more regular football.

Described as an “avid student of the game” by Paul Hayward, in a Guardian interview last year, Carragher has a near encyclopedic knowledge of the game and spends much of his spare time involved in football; whether it be on the training ground or on TV, and to have him leave would be a great loss.  So perhaps – for both parties – a player-coach role would be ideal for Carragher in the next 12 months and Liverpool could benefit from his influence for some time to come.

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