Local boy leads Liverpool charge

By Simon Hart

Local boy
You know the one: local boy, English international, and a player whose whole-hearted efforts serve, in the words of his club's website, to "epitomise the Liverpool spirit". And no, it is not Steven Gerrard. Jamie Carragher is the man who has shone most brightly for the Reds this term, not least according to the readers of the Liverpool Echo newspaper who voted him Merseyside Sports Personality of the Year recently.

Defensive solidity
Carragher has excelled since taking up permanent residence in central defence under Rafael Benítez, his form a telling factor behind Liverpool's defensive solidity in the UEFA Champions League, where they have conceded four goals in seven matches. That record will be tested by Leverkusen, who scored nine goals in three home victories in the group stage, but Carragher, a survivor of the side beaten 4-3 on aggregate by the German team in the 2001/02 quarter-finals, believes Liverpool are better placed to progress this time.

'Fresh in the memory'
"That is still fresh in the memory for a few of us - there are still five or six players here from then - and that was probably one of the biggest disappointments we've all had because we fancied our chances to go a long way in the competition," Carragher told uefa.com. "We're taking a better result over there than last time when we only had the [1-0] advantage so that should put us in good stead and with Steven Gerrard back we are confident we can do the job."

Renewed confidence
Liverpool, Carragher continued, took "a lot of confidence" from their first-leg win, achieved without the trio of Gerrard (suspended), Xabi Alonso (injured) and Fernando Morientes (ineligible). "To get a result like that without three of our best players, everyone was delighted. Of course, 3-0 would have been better than 3-1, but taking a 3-1 lead away from home we're confident that we can maybe get a goal over there ourselves."

Dominant figure
Liverpool have since lost the English League Cup final to Chelsea FC, going down 3-2 after extra time. Carragher refused to be disheartened after that defeat - "We pushed a team which is considered one of the best in Europe all the way," he said afterwards. Prior to this season Carragher had played right across the back four for Liverpool, most often at right-back. Now, at 27, he has become the dominant figure in their defence. "If I had a preference I would play in [the centre] and I've played there for most of the season and hopefully I can stay there for a long time now," he said.

Credit to manager
Benítez considers Carragher "the best central defender in England at the moment" and the player's response is to acknowledge the Spaniard's assistance. "I've got to give a lot of credit to the manager for putting me in the position and the work he does on the training field. I hadn't played there for a while so the more games you get there, the more experience you get and certainly working with the manager he's got a lot of different ideas from what we'd been used to before so picking up on things like that has helped my game."

'Aggressive'
Carragher describes himself as "quite an aggressive player" and a good communicator. Liverpool will need him to underline these qualities once more on Wednesday night.