Erling Haaland gives Jamie Carragher flashbacks of the one player who affected him mentally as a player.
Carragher played at the highest level with Liverpool for over 15 years, winning numerous trophies including the Champions League in 2005.
The former defender has come up against some of the biggest names in world football, but none have instilled the fear of God in him like Thierry Henry.
Henry has faced Liverpool 18 times in his career, scoring nine times.
And Carragher admitted he went onto the pitch hoping the Arsenal icon wouldn’t embarrass him.
The Liverpool legend then compared this to what Haaland is currently doing to Premier League defenders.
The Man City striker has scored 14 Premier League goals in just eight games, with three consecutive hat-tricks at the Etihad. He devastated Manchester United with three goals and two assists in a 6-3 win.
speaking on Monday night football, Carragher said: “We are talking about the best international players. Raphael Varane is a World Cup winner. It brought me back to being a gamer.
“Yes, it should have been so much better for United but I have sympathy. I put myself in their place where I was.
“For two years, there was only one player in my career who marked me mentally on a pitch. It was Thierry Henry.
“You play against great players, but you go into games thinking you can beat them. You could make mistakes and things could happen.
“But Thierry Henry, from 2002 to 2004, when I went to play against him, I only thought of him and it affected my game.
“One of the most embarrassing things I’ve been on a football pitch for was the goal Liverpool conceded at Highbury. [in 2004] where Thierry Henry runs off and I fall and curl up.
“I’m so embarrassed because it’s not me, it’s not my way of thinking. It was the Thierry Henry affect.
“What he does is he makes sure defenders don’t think ‘can I stop him playing well, can I stop him scoring’.
“No, defenders come into games thinking ‘don’t embarrass me’. That’s how I felt against Thierry Henry.
“If he scored, or if he did well, as long as he didn’t embarrass me. I will admit that openly.
“It’s the effect, at the start of his Premier League career, that he already has on the best defenders in the Premier League.”
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