Jamie Carragher has apologised after ‘messing up’ a blind ranking involving former Liverpool teammate Xabi Alonso.
Alonso is currently doing a superb job as manager of Bayer Leverkusen, leading to speculation that he could one day be in the managerial hotseat at Anfield. But after watching Carragher rank him below Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes in a blind ranking for Sky Sports, maybe Xabi will be loathe to return!
With former and current players flashing up in random order, Carragher is asked to put them in a 1-10 ranking without knowing who’s coming next. Having already placed Romario at 5, Zico at 3, Ilkay Gundogan at 9, Lautaro Martinez at 8, Marcelo at 7 and Michael Essien at 10, Alonso’s face flashes up next.
“Oh Xabi Alonso!” gasped the Reds legend. “Is Xabi Alonso above Romario? I don’t think he is. Xabi I’m sorry, well I’m not sorry really, you’re going six.” But with United’s captain up next, Carragher soon realised he’d made a mistake. “Bruno Fernandes! No! I’ve got to put Fernandes in the top four?! Oh god, fourth.”
Two more of Carragher and Alonso’s former Liverpool colleagues rounded out the rankings, with a surprise name taking top spot by default.
“Fernando Torres, will have to go second,” said the pundit, after the iconic Reds striker showed up. “[Javier] Mascherano one! Oh, apologies, I’ve messed this up!”
Carragher makes Alonso apology
Had Carragher been ranking these in order having seen them all, then he’d be absolutely right to apologise.
Contrary to what some would like to believe, Fernandes is a very good player. He may be overtly theatrical on the pitch and downright irritating to boot, but he does have talent.
There’s a reason United paid £68m for the Portugal international back in 2020. On his day, he can be one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.
But there’s no way he even comes close to matching Alonso. Xabi played as a midfield lynchpin for three of Europe’s top teams, under generational coaches like Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
The Spaniard is simply a cut above.
Now smashing it in the first senior management role of his career, Alonso looks set to go down as a legendary name in all of football.
With both players in here, it would actually have been interesting to hear Carragher’s opinion on both Alonso and Mascherano as players.
Xabi tends to get more of the praise, but Masch was absolutely crucial to Liverpool, too. Having gone on to star in Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona side of the early 2010’s, he’s another worthy of being high on this list. For all his quality, Fernandes isn’t.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
