“If we had one of them, we would’ve been better” - Carragher names Ronaldo among 2 Manchester United stars who could’ve ended Liverpool title drought
Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher named two players from their eternal rivals Manchester United who could have ended his side's title drought. The Englishman claimed that players like Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Welsh icon Ryan Giggs could potentially have helped the Reds win the league.
Ronaldo spent six seasons at United in his first stint at the club, bagging 118 goals and 59 assists in 292 games across all competitions. He returned to the club for another one-and-a-half-year stint in 2021, in which he bagged 27 goals and five assists in 54 appearances.
On the other hand, Giggs spent his entire 23-year senior career at Old Trafford. The Welshman holds the club record for the most appearances (963) and most assists (253) and also has the seventh-most goals (168) in club history. Ronaldo won three Premier League titles while Giggs won it a record 13 times.
In a recent episode of the Stick to Football podcast, Carragher claimed that players like the superstar duo could've ended Liverpool's wait for a league title. The 46-year-old said (via Liverpool.com):
"Even though we didn’t win the league, we were still one of the best clubs in Europe for five seasons. For us, we just never had an amazing winger, like a [Cristiano] Ronaldo or a [Ryan] Giggs. If we had one of them, we would have been better." (46:29 in the video below)
Carragher also claimed that modern-day Reds superstars like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane (who left in 2022) could also have helped them win the Premier League back then. He added:
"If we had a [Sadio Mane] or a [Mo] Salah back then, we could’ve won the league."
Mane and Salah were key members of the Reds' squad that finally broke the curse and lifted the Premier League title in the 2019-20 season.
"It just seemed to fall apart" - Jamie Carragher opens up on Liverpool's EPL woes during his playing career
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher opened up on his side's inability to lift the Premier League trophy during his time at Anfield.
Carragher came up through the ranks with the Reds and made his senior debut in 1997. He spent his entire 16-year playing career with his boyhood side, making a whopping 737 appearances across all competitions.
The 46-year-old famously won the 2004-05 Champions League, a Europa League title, two FA Cup, and three EFL Cup titles among others. However, he never lifted the Premier League title.
Lamenting his side's failure to reach the pinnacle of English football during his career in a recent episode of the Stick To Football podcast, Carragher said (via Liverpool.com):
"Liverpool fans were always brought up on the league. It was always about number 19. With [Rafael] Benitez we were getting better every season, and we were that close. But for whatever reason it just seemed to fall apart."
"I don’t think we were ever a team who were like Newcastle [United] and threw it away, or like Brendan Rodgers’ team (2013-14). We were never that team or in that position. In 2002, we were chasing Arsenal and Manchester United. We look back as Liverpool fans and think that it was much closer than what it was," Carragher added. (43:59 in the video above)
The Reds have won just one Premier League title in the 21st century, under the tutelage of legendary manager Jurgen Klopp in the 2019-20 season.