F-B-F.org -

It makes you realise that however good we felt on Wednesday night you’ve got to put it in perspective.”He adds: “This sort of thing shouldn’t happen in football, but it is now part of our history. You never want what happened to be forgotten.” The following day, David Rocastle’s last journey provoked many memories for Ridsdale, even though the player was at Elland Road for under two seasons.”My lasting memory of him is after he had left us for Chelsea. I was walking in Windsor one Sunday with my wife and two boys. David was driving through, saw me, stopped his car near a zebra crossing, jumped out, ran across and shook my hand, and said that it was so nice to see me. It was so typical of the gentleman he was.”At the end of his longest week, it was something joyous on a sad day for Ridsdale to dwell on as he sat and contemplated what the next seven days might bring.. There was more than a hint of paradox when G?rd Houllier was evaluating his squad on the eve of last month’s FA Cup quarter-final.

“Give me 11 Jamie Carraghers,” the Liverpool manager said, “and we will win against Tranmere.”

There was more than a hint of paradox when G?rd Houllier was evaluating his squad on the eve of last month’s FA Cup quarter-final. “Give me 11 Jamie Carraghers,” the Liverpool manager said, “and we will win against Tranmere.”
As it happens, one Jamie Carragher was good enough for a 4-2 win at Prenton Park, but that was one too many for Christian Ziege, who has been so frustrated by the presence of the eager and resilient Englishman ahead of him at left-back that he landed himself in trouble with Houllier last week for mouthing off his grievances to the media.Why the paradox? It is not so long ago that Bryan Robson was asked what he would do if he had limitless money to supplement his Middlesbrough team and his reply was “buy 10 more Zieges”. Now, it would seem, 11 Carraghers are worth considerably more.Houllier has mixed and matched his resources throughout a season that is growing more vibrant by the match but he has remained consistent in at least one area, his back four. Carragher has played more than 40 games this season, as have his fellow defenders Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia and Stefan Henchoz while Michael Owen, for exam-ple, has started just 26 times.By comparison, Ziege’s season has gone much like his former principal cheerleader, Robson, and having been tried at left-back and left-wing he is usually left on the bench or in the reserves these days.

“I didn’t come to Liverpool just to learn better English,” the German said. But it would be a significant surprise if he expanded his football education against Wycombe in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park today at the expense of Carragher.”You need a bit of steel and character,” Houllier said, listing the qualities required in domestic cup ties. “That is not to say the foreigners don’t have that quality but I feel we have to get the balance right. I want players who possess a happy mixture of flair and hard work.” His template, he went on to say, is Carragher.Houllier would be reluctant at any time to be without a player he regards as a gem neglected in the clamour to applaud Owen and Steven Gerrard, but it would be perverse to omit Carragher today after his commanding performance in Thursday’s Uefa Cup semi-final against Barcelona. The entire back four were magnificent, in a game deliberately reduced to a bore by Liverpool’s defensive tactics in the Nou Camp, but he stood highest on the heap of battle honours.In theory, his was the hardest task because he not only had to mark Luis Enrique, a right-winger good enough to win more than 50 caps for Spain, but also had responsibilities inside to provide cover for the centre-backs Hyypia and Henchoz, who had their hands full with Patrick Kluivert and Rivaldo.

He had help from a withdrawn Emile Heskey, but the fact that Luis Enrique was substituted after 71 minutes is indicative of the job he did.Only once did he falter, when he was caught in possession by Gabri, but that was a single error in 90 minutes of concentration and discipline that reached a peak in two blocks on Luis Enrique which were tributes to his athleticism and bravery. Alan Hansen, who knows a thing or two about defending, praised the whole team but it was Carragher he made man of the match.Which ought not to be a surprise ­ he is an England international and a former captain of the Under-21s after all ­ but he has cemented his position in the Liverpool side not as a midfielder or right-back but as a left-back, a position that ought to expose his inclination to favour his other foot. But he has excelled in Europe this season and he did a pretty good job of shackling another much vaunted right-winger last Saturday, a certain David Beckham.”It keeps me in the team,” Carragher says about the switch. “I had never played in the position before this season but I think I’ve coped quite well. I’ve played many times on the other flank and the principles are the same ­ if you have experience of playing at right-back then the positional side of being on the left isn’t a problem. Obviously you have to use your left foot more but the basics are the same.

It’s a clich?but when you are part of a squad as big as the one we have at Anfield you’re just happy to be in the team. There are international-class players on the bench at the moment who would love to play at left-back even if it’s not their natural position.”Right-footed left-backs were given a declining name at international level when Phil Neville was asked to play out of position during Euro 2000, but Sven Goran Eriksson was at the Nou Camp to watch Carragher’s bravura performance and the England coach will have noted that the 23-year-old can play all along the back four and further forward. He merits serious consideration for his versatility alone.And Carragher has the platform. Wycombe stand in the way of a second trip this season to the Millennium Stadium in the FA Cup final and the second leg against Barcelona is on Thursday week.