Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Carragher: I've Made It Easier For Players To Retire

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has revealed that it is easier for players to retire from international football because of the likes of himself, Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer starting the trend, however, the reds stalwart hopes that international retirement does not become a regular pastime.

Carragher quit international football after years of being left out of England starting elevens with Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Matthew Upson and Ledley King being picked ahead of the Liverpool centre-back, leading to Carragher’s retirement from international football to focus on club commitments.

This week Blackburn Rover’s keeper Paul Robinson and Manchester United’s Wes Brown retired from England duty, following in the footsteps of the likes of Carragher, Scholes, and Shearer.

Carragher told talkSPORT: “I think myself and Paul Scholes (retired from England) in quite a short space of time together and I think Alan Shearer was a few years before that and it was something that wasn’t really heard of or done.” He said.

“We all had our own reasons but even though I’ve done it myself it’s difficult for me to criticise other people and I don’t want do that. But I do hope that it’s not something that happens all the time now because I do think it would take something away from international football.

“I just think that now it’s maybe a little easier to do it because of what myself and Paul Scholes and maybe Alan Shearer done. Maybe we took the flak at the time because it was something that wasn’t that common in the game, people weren’t too happy about it and I totally understood that view.” He continued.

"But I think now we’ve probably made it easier for people and I’m just hopeful it’s not something that is happening on a regular basis now with lots of players.”

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