JAMIE CARRAGHER has named his all-time Liverpool XI.
The former Reds defender made 737 appearances for the Merseyside club between 1996 and 2013.
Carragher, 46, is second on Liverpool’s all-time list of appearance holders, only behind Ian Callaghan.
But neither Callaghan, or himself, made his all-time XI when he was asked to name one by pal Gary Neville.
Appearing on Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, Carragher began: “I would go with Ray Clemence just over Alisson, just for the fact he won so many trophies.”
Clemence made 665 appearances between the sticks for the Reds between 1967 and 1981, with his Liverpool trophy haul including five league titles, three European Cups, two Uefa Cups and an FA Cup.
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Moving on to his defence, Carragher selected two decorated full-backs – followed by a Match of the Day legend and current star to play in the middle.
He went on: “Right-back, Phil Neal or Trent [Alexander-Arnold].
“Steve Nicol might do a job for me at left back – when you think of players who have played for AC Milan and won the European Cup four of five times and we go ‘wow’, [same with] Real Madrid and Barcelona players – Neal won four European Cups – it’s unbelievable.
“At the end of Trent’s career, I’ll probably say Trent, but I’ll go with Neal due to the fact he’s won four European Cups.
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“I would go with Virgil van Dijk and Alan Hansen – that would be a great partnership [at centre-back]. Andy Robertson may come into the equation, but Liverpool haven’t had a history of unbelievable left-backs – even when they were successful.
“I’m going to go for Nicol at left-back, he had a great combination with the guy in front of him who’s going to play, John Barnes in that late 80s team.
“Nicol was a player a little similar to me – right-back, centre-back, left-back, but he was that good for Liverpool.”
Moving on to the three men joining Barnes in his midfield four, Carragher only felt that he had one tricky call to make.
“Graeme Souness has to be in central midfield alongside Steven Gerrard, he insisted.
“On the right, there’s two options. Before Mo Salah joined the club, Ian Callaghan.
“He is the only player who has played more games for Liverpool than me. He played 860 games, and he won the Second Division with Liverpool and then one of his last games was the 1977 European Cup final.
“So, you think of that journey from being a Second Division player, a local player, but Mo Salah’s got to go in on that right side.”
Carragher then named two club icons up top, but did consider Luis Suarez – despite the Uruguayan only spending a few years at Anfield.
He concluded: “Kenny Dalglish has got to play and Ian Rush goes in because of what he won.
“If Luis Suarez would have won the league with Liverpool – he won one trophy.
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“If he had a league title and a European Cup to his name, I would have put Suarez in.
“But you think about what Rush did in those cup finals against Everton – I was crying on the way home!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
