Jamie Carragher names his all-time greatest Liverpool XI – without himself, TAA or Suarez

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has named what he believes is the club’s all-time greatest XI – and left out iconic players including Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Given their status as one of the biggest and most successful teams in the history of football, there was always going to be tough competition to make it into this XI – with Carragher humble enough to leave himself out.

Here’s Carragher’s all-time greatest Liverpool XI in full, via the Stick to Football podcast.

GK: Ray Clemence

“I would go with Ray Clemence, just, over Alisson [Becker], just for the fact he won so many trophies,” began Carragher.

While there’s no denying that Alisson ranks as the best goalkeeper of Liverpool’s modern history, Clemence can’t be overlooked in an all-time Liverpool XI.

In order for Alisson to match Clemence’s legacy at Liverpool, he’ll need to play another 397 games and he’ll need to win another 13 trophies. Clemence’s record of 323 clean sheets simply can’t be overlooked either.

RB: Phil Neal

“Right-back, [options are] Phil Neal or Trent [Alexander-Arnold],” Carra continued.

“When you think of players who played for say AC Milan and stuff like that, we go, ‘He’s won the European Cup four or five times’, we go, ‘Wow, Madrid and Barca players’ – Phil Neal won four European Cups, it’s unbelievable that.

“I think if I was asked this question at the end of Trent’s career I’d probably say Trent, but I will go with Phil Neal for the fact that he’s won four European Cups.”

During his 11-year stay at Anfield, Neal made 650 appearances for the club, winning 24 trophies along the way. Alexander-Arnold might find it difficult to match that tally by the time he retires, but there’s no doubt he’s in the conversation.

CB: Virgil van Dijk

Say what you like about Van Dijk, this is a guy who was a whisker away from taking a Ballon d’Or away from Lionel Messi in 2019, he was that good.

Liverpool have had several tremendous centre-halves throughout their illustrations history, but there’s a valid case to be made that Van Dijk is the most complete.

Now closing in on 300 appearances for the club, there’s no doubt that he ranks among Liverpool’s best-ever defenders.

CB: Alan Hansen

“I would go with Virgil van Dijk and Alan Hansen [at centre-back], I think that would be a great partnership,” Carragher said.

Having racked up 620 appearances and won 25 trophies along the way, Hansen is one of the most decorated players in football history and rightly slots alongside Van Dijk in Carragher’s XI.

LB: Steve Nicol

“Andy Robertson may come into the equation. He’s done unbelievably [well]. But I’m going to go for Steve Nicol. He played left-back and he had a great combination with the guy in front who is going to play…

“Steve Nicol was a player a little bit similar to me – right-back, centre-back, left-back – but I think he was that good for Liverpool he’s got to be in the team. So I’ll go with Steve Nicol at left-back.”

There’s a valid argument to be made that Robertson is deserving of a place in a Liverpool all-time XI, but we can hardly begrudge Carragher’s pick of Nicol instead.

Nicol spent 13 years at Anfield, made 468 appearances and scored an impressive 46 goals during that time. He’s also won two more trophies than his Scottish counterpart.

RW: Mohamed Salah

“On the right, I think there’s two options,” Carragher said. “Before Mo Salah joined the club, I would always play a completely different player, Ian Callaghan. He is the only player who has played more games for Liverpool than me, he played 860 games.

“He won the Second Division with Liverpool and I think one of his last games was the 1977 European Cup final. So you think of that journey of being a Second Division player, a local player and he’s played the most games. But Mo Salah has got to go in on that right side.”

Along with making it into Liverpool’s all-time XI, there’s a valid argument to be made that Salah is in the Premier League all-time XI. With 214 strikes to his name, he ranks as Liverpool’s fifth highest-scoring player of all time which is some going.

CM: Steven Gerrard

From Istanbul to that FA Cup final belter against West Ham, there’s no doubt that Gerrard deserves his place in Liverpool’s all-time XI.

Only Carragher and Callaghan have made more appearances for the club and there can be no denying that Gerrard ranks among the greatest Reds players of all time.

READ: Liverpool’s greatest academy graduate XI: Gerrard, Fowler, TAA…

CM: Graeme Souness

During his peak, Souness was one of the best midfielders in Europe and his impact at Anfield is etched into the club’s history.

With Souness in the engine room, Liverpool won 15 trophies in just six years, including five league titles. That’s quite the record.

LW: John Barnes

Liverpool have had some great wide-men over the last 10 years, but Barnes managed to get the nod from Carragher.

The dynamic winger racked up over 400 appearances for the club and scored over 100 goals during his 10-year stint at Anfield. He was electric to watch during his prime and we can’t have any grumblings over his inclusion in this XI.

ST: Kenny Dalglish

Who else?

QUIZ: The Ultimate Liverpool Quiz: 30 questions to put your Reds knowledge to the test

ST: Ian Rush

“Ian Rush goes in because of what he won. I think if Luis Suarez would have won the league with Liverpool… he won one trophy with Liverpool, I think if he got a league title and European Cup to his name, I think I would have put Luis Suarez in,” Carragher explained.

“But Ian Rush, think of what he did in the cup finals against Everton, I was crying on the way home [as a boyhood Everton fan]. Ian Rush has to play.”

While Suarez arguably had the greatest individual season of any Liverpool player, Rush simply can’t be overlooked for his legacy at the club.

With 346 strikes to his name, the Welshman is the club’s all-time top goalscorer and we can’t see that record being beat anytime soon.