Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher admitted that he once modelled his game on a Nottingham Forest striker.
The two clubs once shared a fierce rivalry that saw both sides consistently battle for First Division Championships and European Cups under Brian Clough and Bob Paisley. We also knocked the Merseysiders out of Europe on the way to our first triumph in 1979.
Despite this, this hasn’t stopped Jamie Carragher, who is a legend at Liverpool, from admitting that he grew up watching Teddy Sheringham in action for the red half of Nottingham.
The defender came through the ranks at Anfield, despite growing up as an Everton supporter. Once a promising striker at Melwood, he was told by coach Keith Blunt to study the Englishman at the City Ground.
“I went to the national school as a centre-forward, and it was a different way of playing than what I’d been used to at Liverpool, it was a lot more direct,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
Who was the better striker for Forest?
Teddy Sheringham
Stan Collymore
“It was a case of getting the ball into the striker as quick as you can, and I was a striker. And there was Teddy Sheringham who was brilliant at holding the ball up, and that was a big thing at the national school, to be able to hold the ball up.
“It was about getting ‘side-on’ so your full body was between the defender and the ball.”
Despite this tale from the Liverpool icon, he ended up moving deeper to become a hard-hitting centre back.
Sheringham’s career also saw him play for his national team and moved on to play for both Manchester United and Tottenham, scoring six goals in 20 appearances for us.
Even though his stay with us was a relatively short one, I like to think that we set him on his way to have the successful playing career that he did.
