Carragher: Rafa will give us the one we want.. the
league title.
THE CHAMPIONS League, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup twice, the
UEFA Cup, the European Super Cup twice and the Community Shield
twice. Most players would be happy with this glittering haul of
silverware, but not Jamie Carragher.
Carragher has won just about everything during his Liverpool
career, everything except the Premier League title. Margaret
Thatcher was still clinging to power in No.10 and Richard Gere was
starring in Pretty Woman the last time the trophy was paraded
around Anfield way back in 1990.
Like most Kopites, Carragher thought this season might be the one
when they ended their title wait and no one is more disappointed
than him when he looks at the table and sees the Reds trailing
Manchester United by 13 points.
Carragher is as uncompromising in his ambitions as he is on the
pitch and he admits he is "desperate" to get his hands on that
Premiership trophy. And as he sat speaking at Liverpool's Academy
in Kirkby. "Oh yeah, of course I think he can do it," said the
Scouser. "He's a proven title winner because of what he did with
Valencia where he beat Real Madrid and Barcelona twice. "That's
quite similar to here with Manchester United and Chelsea and they
are above us at the moment.
"Hopefully we can bring some players in during the summer and we
can change that and take it to the next level. "Rafa is the man to
do that and you only have to look at the job he's done in
two-and-a-half years - he's won the Champions League, the FA Cup,
the European Super Cup and the Community Shield.
"If you look at what he's done since he's been here, Chelsea are
the only club who can compare - and they've had more financial
backing than us. Since he's been here, he's probably done better
than any other manager in the league.
"Everyone is desperate to win the league. I'm like the fans and I'm
desperate to win it. It's the last thing I need to tick off in my
career. I won't be happy until we've done that."
Carragher, 28, admits Liverpool are playing for third place and
while this will represent some success after the poor start they
made, he admits he had hoped for much more this season. "At the
moment we have to be looking at third place and we can't really be
thinking about the other two now," he said. "We have to make sure
we get that third place and close the gap on the top two.
"But I wanted a little bit more out of the season than to just
finish third and I'm a bit disappointed. "I thought at the
beginning of the season - like a lot of fans I spoke to in the
street - that we might get a bit closer. I thought we might give
the top two more of a run for their money.
"But you look at the consistency of Manchester United and Chelsea
and they only lose two or three games. That's what champions
do."