Long article dans le Times d'hier. La bio de Carragher est la meilleure vente de livre de sport en 2008 et ça continue !

From The TimesJanuary 24, 2009

Jamie Carragher: no excuses if Liverpool do not win the title

Matt Dickinson
A voracious reader of sports books, as well as the author of his own bestselling memoir, Jamie Carragher recently delved into The Winner Within, by Pat Riley, the legendary basketball coach of LA Lakers fame. It is, the blurb tells us, a book about “motivation, selfishness, teamwork, complacency, winning and choking”. A self-help manual for sealing championships, applicable to the West Coast of England or the United States. Whatever your impression of Carragher, this is typical of the man; immersed in his work, seeking out knowledge, a self-improver who stumbled across Riley’s book simply by scouring Amazon.com in search of inspiration.

Searching for The Winner Within has helped Carragher to renew his focus on the title, but, as Liverpool have faltered this month, it has been pertinent to ask whether everyone else at Anfield has their eyes on the prize, or whether they are looking in the wrong place.

The manager has been playing politics with the board, the owners have been trying to sell up to Kuwaitis, the captain has been in court on a charge of assault and the team have slipped off the Barclays Premier League summit. Then there was the attack by Rafael Benítez on Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, that caught everyone, not least the Liverpool players, by surprise with its intensity and its scope. “The first I knew, I had a text telling me to turn on Sky Sports,” Carragher said. “What can I say? The manager had things he wanted to get off his chest.”

As points were subsequently dropped against Stoke City and Everton, the impression hardened that Liverpool had slipped off course, tossed around in United’s wake, with Benítez not exactly a reassuring hand on the tiller. Carragher scoffs at the idea that Liverpool are rattled, succumbing to the sort of psychological warfare that Ferguson loves to turn on title rivals. “The dressing-room’s full of foreign lads who wouldn’t know what mind games are,” he said. “They don’t read the papers.”

But he does accept that, as Liverpool seek to end a 19-year wait for the title, they should not be making life any harder than it already is in trying to usurp United. If he has a plea, it is that everyone at Anfield buys into what Riley calls “The Innocent Climb”, the first step to successful team-building — “when a team comes together unselfishly . . . and can feel the power surging, so internal rivalries, turf wars and selfish behaviour patterns are set aside”.

Or, in Carragher-speak: “It’s just a few months, a great chance to win the league and we don’t want to look back with regrets. We all have our own issues, contract negotiations or whatever, but you just have to make sure it doesn’t distract from the job at hand. We’re still involved in the FA Cup, the Champions League and well placed in the Premiership. We can’t let the off-field stuff get in the way of things.

“[Winning 5-1 away to] Newcastle was only three games ago and people were saying that was the best they’d seen anyone play this season. So I don’t see this as a wobble.

“Perhaps there’s an edge. There is pressure on us anyway going for our first title. The supporters want it so much, but just because we draw one game at home, people are asking, ‘Have we blown the league?’ There are 16, 17 games left, that’s an age, and there’s nothing in it. We’ve lost four points in two games. It happens. Fergie said himself, teams will drop points. And now Man U are in the Carling Cup final, that’s another league game for them to rearrange, so they’ve got a lot on their plate.”

There is no chance of Carragher losing his focus; quite the opposite. He thinks about football on his way into work, on his way home and as he poses for the photographer against a backdrop of Liverpool’s jagged skyline. “Just like New York,” he said, with playful deprecation.

He dwells so much on the game that his intensity began to trouble him and he turned to Bill Beswick, the sports psychologist, to find out how to switch off. Now Carragher tries to set aside an hour every day when football is not a preoccupation.

“If football isn’t going right, it affects my whole life,” the defender, 30, admitted. “If I’ve made a mistake, had a bad game, it kills me for days. Driving to work, I’ll be thinking, ‘Gotta do better next game, gotta do better.’ I get wrapped up in it.

“That’s going to make it difficult when I’m a manager. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, about how it might affect my family. I think about football all the time. With the championship, mostly I think what a party it would be. Being a local lad, you are so desperate to give people what they crave. You think back to the Istanbul celebrations [which followed the 2005 Champions League final] and know it’ll be even better. It’s the chance to share something special.”

There’s no presumption in that statement, just a tantalising thought of what it would mean to end the years of yearning. Liverpool may have given itself a facelift for the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008, but, as statements of civic pride go, nothing could top one of the football clubs — and let’s be honest, that means the Red one — being crowned kings of England. The party would be led by Carragher, now the most ardent Red but a 12-year-old fanatical Evertonian the last time that Liverpool lifted the title.

As Liverpool prepare to face Everton tomorrow in the FA Cup fourth round, the second derby in less than a week after Monday night’s Premier League draw, today marks the tenth anniversary of the moment that Carragher’s allegiances to the Blue side were severed for ever. Walking into his local pub, The Chaucer, despairing at an injury-time FA Cup fourth-round defeat by Manchester United, Carragher walked into mocking laughter from his Evertonian mates where he had expected sympathy.

Split loyalties had already caused problems, like the time he was on a bus with the Liverpool reserve team and cheered the announcement on radio of an Everton goal. The sound a decade ago of his mates laughing at his, and Liverpool’s, expense forced him into an urgent appraisal. From that moment, when he listened to the scores coming over the airwaves, it was with no affection for Everton.

The tale is told with vividness in Carragher’s autobiography, which was the bestselling sports book of 2008 and this week hit 150,000 sales. Carragher is stunned by its continuing success. “I’m not exactly Michael Owen or Steven Gerrard,” he said. “I remember getting 25 free ones for my mates and family and worrying that I should be selling them to get up the sales.”

At a time when players are being traded like Panini stickers, his appeal is not just as a one-club stalwart but as a footballer who has made the very best of himself. “Perhaps the man on the street, with the money that’s in the game, they see players like myself, Gary Neville, and see that it means more to us than players who earned a lot more money and weren’t as good as us,” he said.

The respectful mention of Neville may appal the Kop, but Carragher is hugely admiring of United, including Ferguson. He is not about to bleat about an imbalance of wealth, particularly now that Liverpool have three £20 million-plus players. “United have got that edge on us financially,” Carragher said. “[Nemanja] Vidic is a classic case. He had a buyout clause of four or five million. We met that but United came along and paid seven or eight. But we can’t make excuses given the money we’ve spent.”

Strong enough to have set the pace in this domestic season, Carragher accepts that should Liverpool finish behind United, it may simply be because their rivals are better equipped. Their concern must be to focus on the job in hand rather than side-issues. To do their all and hope for the best.

His acceptance of Liverpool’s position might have been taken straight out of Riley. The coach writes, citing General Custer at Little Bighorn, that choking “results from failing to understand or accept the reality of your competitive position versus an opponent”. As it stands, the reality of Liverpool’s position is that they are narrowly behind United on goal difference — and still searching for The Winner Within.

Je suis en train de le lire a ce moment un peu tardive. C'etait sur mon table a cote du lit depuis un peu de temps.

Il a retenue Chris Bascombe anciennement du Liverpool Echo, comme ghostwriter en depit de plusieurs offres par le "Big Boys" donc respect.

Mais j'ai un question qu'est ce que est devenue du Chris Bascombe aujourd'hui? je sais il avais quitter l'Echo pour un national mais je ne souviens pas laquelle?

Pour revenir à la bio de Carra, c'est un excellent bouquin, notamment toute la partie concernant sa relation avec Everton ou encore celle sur sa maturation entre un jeu joueur un peu con qui buvait et qui a su devenir un vrai pro !

Acheté la première semaine de mon arrivée ici. Je l'ai débuté, vraiment sympa.

Ah, sacré Carra...

Une question me vient à l'esprit, Carra parle bien le scouse alors ma question c'est: "est-ce qu'on comprends ce qui est écrit ou alors il a enlevé 1 à 2 lettres pour chaque mot long de plus de 2 syllabes ?"