Jamie Carragher has revealed he asked Sky Sports to stop posting footage of Gianfranco Zola dribbling past him for Chelsea against Liverpool. The pundit had an illustrious playing career for club and country.
He became the Reds' second-longest serving player and won 11 trophies, including the 2005 Champions League. Carragher also earned 38 caps for England from 1999 to 2010, featuring in three major tournaments.
But even football greats have their off days. And one of Carragher's most infamous moments came at Stamford Bridge in May 2003 during a 2-1 defeat to their Premier League rivals.
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He was made to look particularly silly by Chelsea hero Zola, who put him on the floor not once but twice. It regularly re-circulates on social media, with Carragher explaining on the Soccer A-Z podcast: "I get sent this clip on the anniversary every year; I think it's sometime in the middle of May.
"Randomly on an international break, because there's not much football, Sky's social media department decided to just put this clip on and say, 'Look at this, Zola twisting Carragher'.
"I got on to Sky, I DM'd them and said, 'I'm supposed to be one of your top pundits, you ridicule me. It's not even on the anniversary. I don't mind the anniversary, but I don't want it in the middle of October when it happened in the middle of May'."
There was no shame of being tied up by Zola, who cemented his legacy as a Chelsea great during his six-plus years spell in west London, dazzling fans with his skill and contributing to the club's success with five trophies. His unique flair was something the Premier League had scarcely witnessed before.
Carragher admitted he was one of the best players he faced, adding: "Yeah, he was brilliant. I'll never forget a game, Liverpool played Chelsea twice within about two or three weeks, and one of them was a famous cup game where Chelsea came back 4-2. The other game Chelsea won 1-0 in league.
"At this stage I was just travelling with the squad, I wasn't on the bench. I remember just watching Zola and I just couldn't believe how good he was. You know at pitch level, you're really low, you can realise the speed of the game.
"The size of him - how small he was but how stocky he was, how strong he was. The way he used to control the ball - I feel like when we talk about foreign players, he's was one of those ones at the beginning that we'll always remember, we'll always have a special bond for. Probably him, [Eric] Cantona, [Dennis] Bergkamp. They felt like the first real sort of superstars."
