Tonight, Premier League legends Jamie Carragher and Paul Ince were in town and we had the pleasure of having both former Liverpool players on Off The Ball.
The duo popped into studio with Ger to preview this weekend's match between the Merseysiders and Manchester United, but also looked back at their own long and successful careers.
Of course, Carragher, who responded to recent criticism of him from Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho on tonight's show, spent his entire career at Liverpool and he told us which Reds side he felt was the best one he played in.
Listen to the full joint-interview via the podcast player:
"It's funny that the team I was involved in when we had our best success with Gerard Houllier winning three trophies and winning the Champions League ... but they were not the best team I played in. The best team I think I played in was probably for Liverpool in 2009 and we came close to another title. But we didn't win anything so nobody remembers the team. You had Torres, you had Alonso, me and Stevie [Gerrard] were probably at our best in that season, and we came really close but just couldn't match that Manchester United team. Ronaldo was the difference then between the two teams," said Carragher, while Ince felt that the Man United team he played in was the best of the Alex Ferguson era.
Carragher with Liverpool team-mates in 2009 (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
But Carragher also compared and contrasted the benefits of playing under Houllier and Rafa Benitez at Liverpool, making the point that "Gerrard Houllier was a manager, Rafa Benitez was a coach".
"They were totally different but they brought out the best in me, both of them," he added.
Ince, who lined out for Liverpool between 1997 and 1999 after previous spells at Inter Milan, Manchester United and West Ham wished he could have stayed longer at Anfield.
"I think I should have stayed longer, to be fair. Gerard Houllier decided that he wanted to try and buy Marc-Vivien Foe, God rest him. I enjoyed Liverpool, I loved being at Liverpool. I thought we had a great spirit about us and that's a dying breed, the spirit we had," said the former England midfielder, who shared an anecdote involving Carragher about the way dressing room culture has changed.
Jamie Carragher and Paul Ince celebrates in 1999 (Neal Simpson / EMPICS Sports Photo Agency)
Carragher said he was impressed by his former manager Brendan Rodgers in terms of his long-term decision-making.
"He's never shied away from a decision, Brendan Rodgers. Don't forget what Luis Suarez did last year. At the start of last season, he was training with the reserves because his attitude wasn't right. He's let Pepe Reina go. He's never bottled a decision. He's not someone you can say is a weak manager," he said, adding that the example of former team-mate Steven Gerrard is not automatically included as another example.
Carragher also explained why he thinks Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen deserve their places ahead of Gerrard this weekend, with Ince echoing that point.
The latter also gave his take on Louis van Gaal, expecting Man United to get into the Top Four but still having doubts about the approach at present.
"I think they will do that this year. Jamie probably won't agree, but I think they will. He's a top manager and managed at some of the biggest clubs in the world. I'm not sure when I look at Man United, what there plan is or what they're trying to do sometimes," said Ince, compared his own settling in period at Manchester United and Inter Milan to Angel Di Maria's current struggles.
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