Sunday, October 12, 2008

Carra: We Understand What It Takes

Jamie Carragher believes he and his teammates now have a better understanding of what it takes to win the league – but he wishes everyone would 'stop talking about our great start'.

The 30-year-old points to the way 10-man Liverpool launched a last-minute smash and grab on Man City as proof they now have the killer instinct to be contenders.

The result sealed our best ever start to a Premier League campaign but, despite recognising some positive signs, Carragher is keen to keep things in perspective.

"We scored the winning goal after Martin Skrtel went off and it was 10 v 10," said the vice-captain. "We had no centre-back, it was just me.

"We could easily have dropped Xabi Alonso back but a few lads said, 'No, we'll keep men forward and go for it. We're aware, now, you've got to go for wins in this league. Draws kill you.

"People should stop saying we've made a great start, though. I'm thinking, 'We've only played seven games and we're Liverpool. Shouldn't we be up there? Am I missing something?' We're not Hull. If we're still up there in March we can talk about it, until then focus on doing our best in every game. Actions speak louder than words."

Meanwhile, Carragher has revealed some of the defensive secrets which have helped Pepe Reina win the Golden Glove award for most Premier League clean sheets three times.

"Rafa has taken defence to another level," said the centre-back. "He goes into every detail, tiny little things like body positions, how to react when the opposition use different formations. Basically, he's trying to copy the AC Milan of Franco Baresi.

"He can change systems five times in a game. In Robbie Keane's first match he ended up on the left wing because Rafa noticed something about Lazio which made him want three in the middle – and that was just a friendly."

No comments: