'I saw unbelievable Liverpool star embarrass Jamie Carragher in first day in training'

• Liverpool FC News
• Features
• Liverpool FC

Jamie Carragher built up a reputation as one of Liverpool's best defenders during his time with the Reds, but he had no answer to one star who joined the club toward the end of his career

Jamie Carragher and Jonjo Shelvey in Liverpool training in 2013(Image: Getty Images)

Former Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has revealed how Luis Suarez embarrassed Jamie Carragher in his first training session after joining the Reds.

Suarez joined Liverpool in January 2011, with the Uruguayan one of two big signings made toward the end of the window that year along with Andy Carroll, although the pair experienced contrasting fortunes on Merseyside.

Having been mired in controversies during his first two years at the club, Suarez went on to enjoy a sensational 2013-14 season in which he scored 31 league goals in just 33 appearances, and almost fired the Reds to the Premier League title under Brendan Rodgers.

From there, he went on to join Barcelona, where he won four La Liga titles as well as the 2015 Champions League, and enhanced his reputation as one of the world’s most lethal forwards.

His talent was clear to his Liverpool teammates from the moment he stepped foot at the club’s training ground though, with Carragher finding himself on the wrong end of his trickery.

Speaking on the Undr The Cosh Podcast, Shelvey, who now plays for United Arab Emirates outfit Arabian Falcons, said: “I loved Suarez. I think he’s a top, top center-forward. He was so good, unbelievable player.

Luis Suarez and Jamie Carragher in training for Liverpool in 2011(Image: Getty Images)

“The first day [at training], Carragher has gone in to press him and he’s just megged him and put it in the top bins.

“Normally, these South Americans take a while to adjust to the Premier League, but he was straight into it, nailing people in training.

“He’s in Miami but he can’t move now. It’s a bit sad when you watch him, really, but he was a joke. That year when he scored three or four hat-tricks in a season, he was a joke. He was a top, top player.”

Carragher was far from the only defender made to look silly by Suarez during his time at Liverpool, and the Reds legend turned pundit shares Shelvey’s opinion on the Inter Miami striker.

“Unbelievable. I actually think he was the best center-forward in the world for three or four years,” Carragher told Gary Neville on The Overlap in 2021.

“You look at what he's done. Everywhere he goes he takes that team [forward]. That Liverpool team that nearly won the league was an average team. He nearly single-handedly took them to the league, that's what he does with every team he goes to.”