Even though he retired in 2013, Jamie Carragher still played once under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool – with the legendary manager left “surprised” at his ability!
Carragher called time on a 17-year career in the Liverpool first team at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, missing out on the first shoots of success that followed.
His departure came before the title challenge under Brendan Rodgers in 2013/14, but also before the club’s decline soon after, which paved the way for Klopp’s arrival.
At the end of Klopp’s first full season at Anfield, the Reds flew to Australia for a friendly against Sydney FC – bringing three ex-players along as part of the squad – with Carragher picking up the story for the BOSS Podcast.
“They couldn’t sell the tickets to fill the stadium out, and Liverpool’s team is coming out with Jurgen Klopp as the manager,” he explained.
“So the club asked me, Stevie Gerrard and Steve McManaman to come. Not because they didn’t have any players – to try and boost the ticket sales.
“That’s mad isn’t it? It’s mad. That’s why I say to people, that’s where Liverpool were at the time.”
The friendly eventually played out with around 72,000 supporters at the ANZ Stadium, with Carragher and Gerrard both starting and McManamanan coming on for the second half.
In 45 minutes, the No. 23 caught Klopp’s eye as he stood out in a defence that also included Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno.
“We play the game and then we go to have a bevvy in the night and all that,” Carragher continued.
“So Jurgen Klopp knows who we are, without like knowing all that. He probably thinks he knows me as a player, everyone thinks ‘oh Carra puts his foot in and all that, he’ll have a go’.
“I’ve had the ball a few times, played a few passes, and we were in this bar and he whispered, ‘your passing surprised me!’.
“I went ‘yeah, it surprises a lot of people lad, I don’t get enough credit for my passing’. He went ‘mmm, not bad!’.”
Liverpool won the friendly 3-0, with goals from Daniel Sturridge, Moreno and Roberto Firmino, and the experience under Klopp left an impression on Carragher.
“I always remember coming off at half-time, we were walking to the tunnel – and I’m competitive – and he went mad at the referee for not giving us a penalty,” he said.
“I think we were already winning 2-0, but it was a blatant pen that he never gave, and Jurgen was like a lunatic as the referee came off. I was like, ‘I like that’.”
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