Carragher: I’d be more Mourinho than Guardiola as a boss but don’t fancy management

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says he would be more Jose Mourinho than Pep Guardiola if he ever went into management, but he has no desire to take on the stresses of coaching.

There was a time when the ex-England international thought that his career would be extended in the dugout once the day came to hang up his boots.

As he edged ever closer to retirement, though, a man who spent all of his playing days at Anfield decided that severing ties with competitive action was the best decision for him.

He is now a top pundit and has no regrets at having swapped dressing rooms for television studios.

Carragher now casts an eye over those chasing down precious points and is a big fan of two men who have dominated the managerial scene in recent times.

He told Sky Sports: “In the last 20 years the best two managers have been Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.

“It's been a contrast in styles but I'm certain if I was a manager, I'd be more Mourinho than Guardiola because of the upbringing I had and how I saw football.

“I couldn't go on to a training pitch and try to coach Barcelona-type football. I wasn't brought up on that as a kid. Certainly at Liverpool we tried to play good football, but it was about using your brain and not taking chances.

“Football was always more about the result than the performance. I was always about the result above all as a player.

“But the game has evolved, and it's become a lot more expansive. Nowadays, for managers and supporters, you have to get the result and the performance to keep so many people happy.”

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Explaining why he has not taken the same path as Tottenham and Manchester City bosses Mourinho and Guardiola, Carragher added: “People always ask players, ‘are you going to become a manager?' Some people can't be bothered, and they get to the end of their career before they think about what they're going to do next. I was the opposite.

“If you'd asked me in my 20s, whether with England or with Liverpool, I'd have said I'd have been a manager. Former coaches were certain I would.

“But as I got closer to finishing my career, I started looking more at the pitfalls of management, and the other options I had. Now, part of me thinks it was for the best I stayed away.

“Ten or 15 years ago, my first thought when it came to entering management was probably ‘hassle’. I used to look at it and think, 'is it worth everything that you go through?'

“I don't really like people acting to me or being like that myself. I'm very straight with people, but I feel managers must be like that, telling players sometimes what they want to hear rather than the truth. I'm just not sure I'd have been cut out for that.”

Carragher, with 737 appearances for Liverpool and 38 for England to his name, would likely have had plenty of options to consider had he gone down the coaching route.

He is, however, happy to have steered away from the pressure and criticism of trying to piece together successful sides.

“Would I say the fear of failure put me off going into management? No, but it's definitely something you look at,” added Carragher.

“I had a good career, not a great one – there are certainly hundreds who had better careers than I had. But your football career is there and always will be.

“I do sometimes think the ridicule of managers is disgusting and is a disgrace. The way people talk about them as if they haven't got a clue. It almost feels like unless you become Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, you're a failure.

“There are managers in the Premier League who've not won anything but they've had three or four Premier League jobs. If you've managed three or four Premier League teams, then I think you've had a very good managerial career. So many managers are disrespected over what they've not won, but sometimes I feel the circumstances are forgotten and dismissed.”