Now better known for his punditry and expert analysis across various broadcasters and outlets, and maybe in part to Liverpool’s success in recent years, it could be forgotten just what an important figure Jamie Carragher was on Merseyside during his extensive and commendable playing career that spanned nearly two decades.

Famously a boyhood Evertonian, Carragher was picked up by Liverpool in 1988, although he was fearless in continuing to wear his favourite Graeme Sharp Everton kit to training. In 1996 he led the Reds to FA Youth Cup glory, triumphing in the final against a West Ham United side including Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.

That same year, his opportunity arrived to make his mark in the first team. He took that chance and never looked back, going on to make 737 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions, second only to Ian Callaghan, and a record 149 appearances in European competition, where he enjoyed some of his best battles.

In an interview with Sky Sports back in 2020, Carragher was asked to create a team made up of the most difficult 11 players he'd played against. Here's who he picked.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, Marcel Desailly, John Terry, Paulo Maldini

Few can argue with the selection of legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon between the sticks. A fierce competitor with a remarkable playing career that spanned nearly 30 years, the Italian is one of a handful of players to have made over 1100 professional appearances. On Buffon Carragher said:

"Goalkeeping wise, I've picked Gianluigi Buffon. I was born on the same day as him and scored against him, so it always gives me a chance to get that story in."

Now 46, Buffon has been named Italian goalkeeper of the year on a record 13 occasions and was also included in the UEFA Team of the Year five times, as well as coming second in the 2006 Ballon d’Or, an award only ever once won by a goalkeeper.

Cafu is widely regarded as one of the sport’s greatest ever right backs, a position he dominated and modernised over an illustrious 19-year career. The 51-year-old is Brazil’s most-capped player in the nation’s history with 142 appearances to his name.

On the opposing flank stands Paulo Maldini, a player whose aura alone is almost enough to keep out opposition attacks. Maldini, as Carragher has recognised, is truly one of the greats. Equally comfortable at playing left back and centrally, and like Carragher, a one club man, Maldini spent 25 years with AC Milan, most of them as captain, where he won a remarkable 26 career titles.

Both Cafu and Maldini are very familiar with Carragher due to his part in the iconic 2005 UEFA Champions League Final in which the Reds rose from the dead to recover a 3-0 deficit and beat Milan on penalties. The pair did however get their revenge when Milan edged past Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final.

Centre back is especially an area of interest given Carragher’s own experience of the position, and the former Liverpool man has highlighted imperious French defender Marcel Desailly as one of the best to play the position. By the time Desailly had reached the Premier League, the now 55-year-old already had a wealth of experience, lifting the Champions League with Marseille in 1993, before winning the competition again the following season with AC Milan, making him the first player to win the coveted trophy in successive seasons with different clubs, this time playing as a defensive midfielder.

Alongside Desailly, Carragher has chosen his compatriot, John Terry. The 43-year-old was named UEFA Defender of the Year in 2005, 2008, and 2009 and was an integral part of the Jose Mourinho team that went an entire Premier League campaign conceding just 15 goals, a record that stands to this day. Carragher partnered Terry with England on 22 occasions, most notably at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and at South Africa 2010.

Midfield

Roy Keane, Andres Iniesta, Xavi

Anchoring the base of midfield, Carragher has chosen the protagonist of one of football's great rivalries, ex-Manchester United and turned SkySports colleague, Roy Keane. The 67-time-capped Republic of Ireland midfielder is often underappreciated by Premier League fans but has always been hugely respected by his fellow professionals, with Carragher no exception.

Ahead of Keane, Carragher picked one of the most iconic midfield pairings of the 21st century - Barcelona duo Andres Iniesta and Xavi. Between them, the Spaniards have totalled 947 appearances for the Catalan club, and 264 for their country, both winning La Liga nine times, the Champions League four times, the EUFA European Championships twice and the World Cup once in 2010, in which Iniesta scored an injury-time winner. If they had the ball, you weren’t getting back any time soon.

Attack

Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo

Front lines don’t come much better than Carragher’s selection of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, and Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is hardly surprising to learn it’s these three players who the Liverpool defender had the hardest time up against.

What more can be said about Messi? Having lifted the World Cup with his nation of Argentina in 2022, the little magician has won it all. Now living and playing at a slightly slower pace in Miami, the 36-year-old is performing for a new audience. Carragher faced off against the Argentine just twice, a two-legged round of 16 tie in the 2006/07 Champions League season. Liverpool progressed through to the quarter-finals on away goals and eventually to the final, but most importantly, Carragher stopped ‘Leo’ from scoring.

Henry and Carragher had more frequent exchanges during the Frenchman’s iconic eight seasons with Arsenal, 16 to be precise, with Liverpool winning six, losing seven and drawing three times across all competitions, including an exhilarating 2001 FA Cup final which went the way of the Reds. Henry left the Premier League for Barcelona in 2007 after scoring 174 goals in 254 league appearances, leaving behind him a legacy few can match.

Then there is Ronaldo. The Portuguese has a list of accolades and records that almost nobody can match and a European legacy above anyone else. He boasts the highest number of Champions League appearances, the most Champions League goals, the most Champions League assists, the most goals in European Championship history, more international goals than anyone with 128. In fact, the 39-year-old has scored over 880 senior career goals, making him the sport’s top goalscorer of all time. He is a defender’s worst nightmare, and certainly Carragher’s.