Jamie Carragher was your archetypal one-club player.
The Liverpool legend turned out for the Reds in 17 consecutive Premier League seasons, racking up a total of 737 appearances. When he retired at the end of the 2012/13 campaign, his medal collection included two FA Cups, three League Cups, a UEFA Cup and the unforgettable 2005 Champions League triumph.
While medals and honours are a traditional marker of what a player achieved in their career, a less tangible yardstick is their dressing room influence.
Sander Westerveld on Jamie Carragher and his best Liverpool team-mates
Sander Westerveld joined Liverpool in 1999, when he became the most expensive goalkeeper in English football, moving for a £4 million fee from Vitesse. By this time, Carragher was established in the Reds’ first-team squad and he left quite an impression on the young Dutch stopper.
“When I first came to England, Carra would be lying on the floor in the dressing room, exhausted, after every game and every training session,” Westerveld told FourFourTwo, when asked to name his Perfect XI of team-mates he had played alongside.
“That was something I’d never seen before. He gave everything on the pitch, even in training, and that’s why he went so far.”
Westerveld’s Perfect XI also includes three other hugely influential Reds stars, who were larger-than-life figures during the two years that the six-time Netherlands international spent at Anfield.
“Sami Hyypia was a big help at the beginning of my time at Liverpool,” he adds. “He’s one of those Virgil van Dijk-type players who puts the goalkeeper at ease and gives you a lot of confidence. He was brilliant for me.”
Westerveld made 103 appearances during his stint on Merseyside, joining just as Steven Gerrard was completing his ascent from promising youngster to key first-team player.
“Do I have to say anything about Stevie?,” the 51-year-old asks? “One of the best midfielders in the world during his career. He could score goals, defend, tackle, work hard and lead. A very, very special player.”
Westerveld’s final Liverpool selection is another local lad, with Robbie Fowler already having achieved legendary status at the time of the stopper’s 1999 arrival.
“From the first day in training, I’d never seen anything like it,” Westerveld continues. “He made it all look so easy.
“No matter the angle in the box, he could find the net from anywhere. Robbie was clinical, effective and one of the best finishers there has ever been.”
