There will never be another like him; Jamie Carragher…Image: guardian.co.uk Liverpool played their last game of the season on Sunday against QPR at Anfield. The game didn’t have any real purpose behind it though and so all of the focus was on the retiring Jamie Carragher. A guard of honour saw the number 23 out onto the pitch with The Kop creating a massive mosaic for the defender. Carragher ran towards the Kop with his son and daughter and thanked the Anfield faithful, it was an emotional moment and finally it seemed real that Carragher was in fact retiring. In terms of the game though it may not have meant anything, but Liverpool still wanted to finish their season on a high. 7th place isn’t an achievement really and finishing behind Everton just rubs more salt in the wound but here’s hoping Brendan buys well in the summer and we can push on next season finding some consistency on the way! Liverpool started the game in a confident manner whilst QPR lacked a spark. Philippe Coutinho was the star man for Liverpool though, weaving his way through problems and setting up his team mates. He’s been fantastic since we signed him and if anybody deserved to find the back of the net yesterday (aside from Carra) it was Coutinho. Coutinho actually had the ball in the back of the net earlier in the game but the referee ruled no goal and so Coutinho would have to wait a bit longer to give the Reds the lead. At 22 minutes he got his chance. After an assist from the 17 year old Jordan Ibe making his debut, Coutinho struck a powerful shot from outside the area and sent his effort low to the left of goal. It was a cracking goal really and just what Liverpool needed. QPR weren’t really troubled Pepe Reina too much, especially in the first half but it was Loic Remy who was taking the chances for his side. Some efforts early on went just shy of goal for QPR as they looked to find an equaliser before half time. In the Red corner, it was Jamie Carragher getting harassed to push forward for the Reds, almost every time he got the ball. It would have been such a story for Carragher to have scored on his debut 16 years ago and then score on his final day in a Red shirt. The dream nearly came true too after a stinging shot from long range smashed back out off the post, unbelievable! It would have been an absolutely brilliant goal, the Anfield faithful had their hearts in their mouths but it just wasn’t to be. It wasn’t a terribly exciting game but Liverpool were definitely the better of the two teams, Rob Green kept his side in with a chance after saving efforts from the likes of Enrique and Johnson but QPR just couldn’t find themselves a goal. Jamie Carragher the man of the moment was substituted at 85 minutes and to rapturous applause. Anfield began a rendition of “team of Carraghers” as the legend left the field for the last time. He was replaced by Coates. And so folks that is the end of the season and the end of an era. Liverpool finished in 7th place on 61 points. And Jamie Carragher finishes on 737 games, a feat only bettered by Ian Callaghan. What did you make of this season? Were you happy with it? Do you feel we’ve underachieved? Leave your thoughts below. As always on The Liver Bird at some point in the next week there will be a mini pocket sized round up of the season with some snippets of what was going on in the news at the time as well, once again, thank you all for stopping by on my little blog here and roll on 2013/2014!Like “The Liver Bird” on Facebook – www.facebook.com/TheLiverBirdsBlog

A news article on 2013-05-20 11:28:00 from: The Liver Bird

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