Jamie Carragher recalls almost having a fight with Liverpool teammate on the pitch | OneFootball

Highlights

Jamie Carragher has revealed the Liverpool teammate he almost came to blows with on the pitch during his playing days. The altercation in question took place during the Reds' 2-0 Premier League win over West Bromwich Albion in 2009 with Spanish full-back, Alvaro Arbeloa.

Carragher and Arbeloa were teammates for two years, with the Spaniard leaving the club shortly after the incident in question to sign for Real Madrid in his home country along with Xabi Alonso - who was the man tasked with breaking their pair up during their heated argument at The Hawthorns on that day.

The nature of the disagreement has previously been reported as Carragher feeling disappointed in his teammate's defensive work rate as the Liverpool players looked to help Pepe Reina win the 'Golden Glove' award for the 2008/09 season. A clean sheet was kept on the day, but Edwin van der Sar ended up winning the award with an incredible 21 clean sheets.

Premier League 'Golden Glove' winners since 2008/09

Jamie Carragher recalls almost fighting on the pitch

Per the Metro in 2020, the former Reds' centre-back claimed: "I was on a football pitch and nearly struck one of my own teammates, or punched Arbeloa." Since then, Carragher has once again been discussing the incident - this time on 'Stick to Football' which is the new show on The Overlap YouTube channel.

The 45-year-old said: “I nearly had a fight on the pitch with my own teammate, Arbeloa. I had to go in and apologise after the game. He was going forward too much, I needed protection!" This conversation came about when discussing incidents that could cause unrest within the changing room at a football club in the wake of recent issues regarding Jadon Sancho at Manchester United.

Going into further detail of the fall-out of the situation, the Sky Sports pundit continued: “We nearly came to blows on the pitch, then after the game you think ‘oh it was a bit much that.’ I tried to apologise after the game, he sort of threw his hand, so you lose your head again a little bit but the next day the manager said, ‘no, you’ve got to apologise in-front of all the team.'"

Watch: Stick to Football Episode One

How often do fights occur between teammates?

It is not uncommon for arguments to occur on the pitch and in the aftermath of games, with several Manchester United players reported to have got into an altercation following the side's home defeat against Brighton recently. Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof are said to have exchanged words while Bruno Fernandes confronted Scott McTominay.

Perhaps the most famous example of an on-pitch fight is the full on fist fight that happened between Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer when the pair played for Newcastle back in 2005. The teammates got into a scrap during a defeat against Aston Villa with a simple break down in communication and emotions getting the better of the pair.

This doesn't even take into account the behind-the-scenes incidents that have not been brought to light in the public eye.