Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard were on the Goals on Sunday sofa and gave a fascinating insight into their careers, a turbulent season at Anfield, new signings and their future. We've transcribed the best bits below.
On the England captaincy debate...
SG: I'm really pleased for John Terry because I know what it means to him. He's been frustrated since he lost it and we have all got to respect the manager's decision and move on. We went on to win the Wales game, so we can all move on from the captaincy issue now. Everyone's obviously upset for Rio (Ferdinand) because he hadn't done anything wrong to lose it. I did actually get a call. The manager spoke to me and explained what he was going to do - he didn't have to do that.
JC: John Terry has been a great captain and he will be a great captain. If Fabio Capello thinks it's right then he's got to do it - no matter how much criticism he's going to get.
On the Nani tackle...
JC: It was a terrible tackle. I apologised to the lad after the game. I think he was training again after a week, fortunately. He's been one of the best players this year - not just at Man United but in the league. I'd just gone to full-back and he'd just switched sides. I'm not stupid - I know Fergie was thinking 'Let's get at him.' So I thought I'd try and get as tight as I could. He slightly mis-controlled the ball and I thought I could get it. We beat Man Utd, great win - but it took the shine off it a bit later on when I watched it. I spoke to Michael Owen a few days later to find out how the lad was doing and I was pleased he was okay.
On debuts...
SG: I was cleaning their boots (when Jamie made his full debut v Aston Villa). I was there when he scored his goal and I'd been doing all their boots the day before. Obviously it was great for me to see a local lad breaking through and I started thinking, 'If he can do it, I can definitely do it!'
JC: I knew that was coming! [Laughs] The night before I was down to play at the back because we had a new signing, Bjorn Kvarme, and his clearance hadn't come through. I didn't have a mobile phone at the time so no one told me when his clearance came through about 6pm. So I go to the game thinking I'm playing but I'm not. Then Patrik Berger got sick and I was in midfield.
SG: My full debut in the Premier League was a big shock. You dream of getting to that stage and for 52 minutes it was just hell. I didn't feel fit enough or good enough, David Ginola was too strong and I felt like a boy in a man's game. It was a wake-up call. I thought I wasn't good enough but I had the right people around me, experienced players - Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Fowler. Gerard Houllier was fantastic, he put his arm around me and advised me on certain things. I've become a lot stronger these days.
JC: For me, I used to say Stevie was the best player who's played for the club, but I can't say that now because Kenny is the manager! But for me, at some stages in his career he's been in the best four or five players in the world.
On playing for Liverpool...
JC: Why would you want to leave? I'm playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, I'm a local lad, I've got my family around me and I play every week. Probably Stevie is in a different boat because clubs around the world have wanted him - I've never been in that boat. He's had decisions to make at certain times but he's stayed loyal to the club. It's not just about winning the Champions League - you win it and your family and friends are there, when you come back you know so many people who were involved. You feel like your family and friends are part of winning things with you. Winning things at the club where you've come through means a lot more.
SG: It's been well-documented that it's turned my head at times when clubs have been interested in me, but now looking back I'm just glad I did make the right decisions. The feeling you get when you're a local lad and you win a trophy, and you see your people, your family and friends joining in and celebrating with you - it's unbeatable. It's better than winning trophies where you're not local.
On the fans...
SG: We believe we've got the best fans in the world. European nights at Anfield - go there and experience it. The support we get on and off the pitch from the fans is unbelievable. We'd love to go and win those fans a few more trophies before we finish.
JC: I never played when they had standing on the Kop but it comes alive on European nights. It's touch and go whether we make Europe this season but I'm desperate to get in because they are the great nights - they're something we'll always remember when our careers finish.
On the Olympiacos goal...
SG: I've seen the goal many, many times but I don't put it on myself. I'm really proud of it, it's a fantastic strike and it turned out to be such an important goal. If we went out in the next round people wouldn't talk about it like they do. Because we won the Champions League people talk about it like they do the Davie Fairclough goal v St Etienne. I'm so proud to have scored that goal.
On Istanbul...
JC: How do you lift the players at half-time? It's tough. The big thing was changing the formation to three at the back. Bringing Didi Hamann on made as big a difference as anything that got said.
SG: My goal and the penalty came from knowing Xabi Alonso and Didi Hamann were behind me.
JC: The second goal for me was when I thought we had a chance. The first goal was getting some pride back, but when we got the second I knew we'd get the third. You could see it on their faces. What we were feeling first half, they were feeling second half - what's going on here? But their performance, outside of 10 minutes (when we got three goals), was probably one of the best you'll see from a side in a European Cup final.
SG: The fans were singing You'll Never Walk Alone and supporting us as we went back out, so the least we could do was go and get one goal, put up a fight, try and make it look respectable. There wasn't any belief we could win it at half-time but Milan collapsed for 10 minutes - it actually felt like that when we were out there. I fancied us on penalties because we had some good penalty takers: Didi, Riise, Alonso, and Cisse is always confident taking a pen. I felt confident as well, and I wanted the first pen - but Rafa picked the order and I was on the fifth.
On Roy Hodgson...
SG: He's such a good guy and a fantastic coach - it just didn't work out for him at Liverpool. The players didn't perform consistently for him. Us as players maybe have to take responsibility. It's not acceptable for Liverpool to be outside the European positions and you can't just point the finger at the manager - we have to look at ourselves.
JC: We'd finished seventh the year before which is obviously why Rafa left and obviously we felt we were better than seventh, and we were thinking with a new manager it might change. So at that moment we were looking to build something, new players were getting involved, but you could say that Rafa had been there a long time and it was still his team really. But if you have not done that well for two years, it's not the manager's fault. You've got to look at the squad and ask, as a group of players, are we doing enough or are we good enough? We also lost Mascherano, who was a big player for us. You take one of the best players out of a team that's finished seventh. We're trying to build Liverpool back up but sometimes as a group we're not good enough. That's why players have been brought in this January, and it looks good with Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez and the new owners. Don't forget Roy had to deal with, as did Rafa, the last owners we had. Everyone is a lot happier with the owners we have now and that makes things easier for the manager.
On the fans not taking to Roy Hodgson...
SG: I think it's more that they idolise Kenny Dalglish and when a decision was made that Rafa was going to leave, there was a lot of speculation. Rijkaard and Deschamps were linked but the two front runners were Dalglish or Hodgson - and the fans absolutely love Kenny. Every time there were a couple of bad results or maybe the tactics were slightly wrong or we went a goal behind, the fans were getting on the manager's back.
On Kenny's return...
SG: It's fantastic to have Kenny back, he's given the club a big lift, brought everyone together. We're enjoying training and the games and there would be nothing better than to win a trophy in the next couple of years. It's fantastic to work with him and we're all fighting for the same thing, and that's to get us back to where we believe we belong. There is no better person to spearhead that. The lads are enjoying training, and when you're training well you take that onto the pitch with you.
JC: The fans are a massive part of Liverpool - they are as important as the players. It's such a tight-knit community. When you've got everyone together, at times we can be unstoppable. We've seen that with some of the cup finals: maybe we should have lost some of them but we never - because the players and the fans were together.
On Raul Meireles...
SG: There were times when Roy played Raul out wide and maybe he didn't want to play there, and Kenny has played him a bit further forward and he seems to be revelling in it. But I think it was more about Raul getting used to the league and settling into the country rather than who he was playing for. If Roy was still in charge now you'd still be seeing good performances from Raul Meireles because he's a top player.
On Luis Suarez versus Fernando Torres...
SG: It's a difficult question to answer at the moment. Suarez has only played a few games for Liverpool. He's done fantastically well and we know he's going to be a top player. Just training with him and playing with him in those first few games, he's strong, great on the ball, technically very good and he'll score goals. But Fernando was frightening in his first year as well. They are two top players. I'd say Liverpool are in a better position now having two top forwards rather than one. Fernando is a top player and I enjoyed playing behind him, but if you said to me 'Would you rather have Fernando Torres on form or Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll on form?' I would take the two rather than the one.
On Torres leaving...
SG: We felt slightly let down, like the supporters did. He was a top player and a friend. We wanted him to stay but he made his decision and we have to respect that. Only he knows whether he downed tools and only he can explain why his form wasn't as good in his last few months. But knowing Fernando, I don't think that was the case. I think he just wanted a change. It's sad the terms in which he left because he was idolised by the fans, the people around the club and by us as players.
JC: He always kept himself to himself, even when he was banging the goals in. It wasn't like he'd changed his character. After the World Cup we probably realised he was half looking to move on. Then he spoke to the club and decided to stay, but it didn't go that well. The disappointing thing was that it was so late in the window, but fortunately Damien Comolli and the owners made a difference for us. It's football, we got a great price and we got two new players in.
On the rest of the season...
SG: Hopefully it will go the same as it has the last couple of weeks as far as the league is concerned. Our form has been very good over the last 10 games. We want to finish as high as we can. Tottenham are still involved in the Champions League, Man City have been inconsistent of late and we want to keep the pressure on them.
On keeping in touch with former teammates...
JC: I keep in touch with Sami Hyypia a little bit. You always have four or five players who you keep in touch with. Mine are Danny Murphy, Michael Owen, Jamie Redknapp, Didi Hamann, Sami Hyypia, Robbie Fowler. Look what Danny Murphy has done at Fulham - captain, Europa League final. He's done as well as he did at Liverpool.
SG: I think Danny left the club too soon. I think he had the ability to play for a few more years - maybe not every week because at Liverpool you have three or four top players in every position.
On Robbie Keane...
SG: He's a top player and we were gutted it didn't work out for him at Liverpool. We'd have liked him to have stayed around a bit longer. Maybe under a different manager it would have worked out.
On appearance records...
JC: Breaking appearance records means I'm still in the team and making a contribution. I'll be privileged to finish my career at Liverpool. Every time I see Ian Callaghan (record holder on 857) I tell him he must have been counting five-a-sides with Shanks! He's a great man and I don't think his record will be broken - and deservedly so because he's such a nice fella. I've been fortunate the managers have always taken to me. Hopefully I've got a couple of years to go. I'm always looking forward and trying to do as much as I can for the club. When my career finishes in the next two or three years then I'll look back with pride. At the moment I'm still looking forward. I want to play more games and win more trophies.
SG: Just to be on that list, when you see some of the names. Just to be in the same company is flattering for both of us.
On being managers on day...
JC: If I went down that road, managing Liverpool would be the pinnacle. The older I'm getting the less I'm thinking of doing it, though. I think of my family. I've been fortunate in that I've never had to move around and that will be a big part of it.
SG: I'm a little bit younger than Jamie, I've got more time to think about it - but Jamie's got the knowledge. Jamie just loves football and his little boy is exactly the same. When I see his little lad at Melwood he's always reading the magazines. Would I play for him?
JC: I wouldn't pick him!
SG: It'd be fantastic if one day either of us got that chance, but it's a long way off.
Author: Jimmy Rice
