9 months ago
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Jamie Carragher has revealed he enforced a rule in the Liverpool dressing room to help elevate two of the club’s legendary stars.
In the aftermath of Monday’s FIFA The Best Awards, Carragher discussed the topic of players voting for individual awards.
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Lionel Messi once again came out on top at this week’s ceremony in London, ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
However, when the voting by national team captains was later revealed, Messi had surprisingly voted for his two direct rivals.
The former Liverpool defender explained how he went about implementing a contrasted way of voting to ensure the star names such as Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would be best placed to win awards they had been shortlisted for.
"I’d get the [PFA] forms [at Liverpool] and if I thought someone had a decent chance of winning something – Stevie [Gerrard] or Fernando Torres for player of the year, it would be like [in the changing room], ‘Well no one can vote for his rival’!" Carragher told the Stick to Football podcast.
"I’d make sure of that! I’d tell players ‘You can’t vote for him’!"
Carragher’s efforts were often in vain as just one Liverpool player scooped the PFA Player’s Player of the Year during his 17-year Anfield career.
Steven Gerrard was the deserving recipient of the award in the 2005/06 season which culminated in his incredible strike to help land Liverpool FA Cup glory against West Ham in the match later named ‘The Gerrard Final'.
Gerrard’s former teammate Fernando Torres was named in the PFA Team of the Season for both the 2007/08 and 2008/09 campaigns and despite two standout seasons for the Reds, he was unable to win the individual award.
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Manchester City striker Haaland is the current holder of the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award after his sensational debut season in the Premier League, netting a record 36 goals for Pep Guardiola’s Treble winners.
