Carragher: 99% of players are like Taylor

Jamie Carragher has declared that almost all footballers, past and present, are capable of the kind of tackle which broke Seamus Coleman's leg.

The Wales full-back has been vilified in many quarters for the dangerous challenge which left the Ireland captain with a double fracture last weekend but Carragher has refused to join them.

While not defending Taylor's actions, the former Liverpool defender believes the outcome was the only difference between Taylor's tackle and many launched every week by other players, and referenced one of his own on Nani in 2011 as being similarly bad.

‘The comment ‘he’s not that type of player’ is nonsense,' he wrote in the Daily Mail. 'We are all that type of player. I’d say 99 per cent of footballers have made challenges as bad as Taylor’s – or even worse – at some point in their careers. They were just lucky no bones were broken.

‘I say it from experience. I know what Coleman is going through, given that Lucas Neill shattered my leg at Blackburn in 2003 when he leaped into me, but I can relate in some way to Taylor’s frame of mind too.

‘Don’t confuse this as me trying to defend Taylor. I’m not doing that whatsoever. Everything about his lunge at Coleman was awful. It was irresponsible, he came at him from a high and wide angle and the speed of the collision meant the consequences were catastrophic.

‘Taylor should be devastated. Coleman faces at least six months of rehabilitation and soul-destroying days in the gym. There is also no guarantee he will come back in the same form.

‘I won’t vilify the Aston Villa full back. Why? I could have been in exactly the same position in March 2011 when Liverpool played Manchester United. I’d been switched to right back towards the end of the first half, so the first thing United manager Sir Alex Ferguson did was move the speedy Nani to the left flank to attack me.

'I wanted to let him know I was ready for him, that he wasn’t going to pass. I wanted to rattle his bones. But my first challenge was horribly mistimed and I clattered into his shin.

‘I was lucky not to be sent off and luckier still that Nani was able to walk out of Anfield with ‘just’ a gash in his leg.

‘We beat United 3-1 that day but I wasn’t able to enjoy the victory. It didn’t feel right after what I had done and I was embarrassed when I saw the replays of the challenge. I tried to go into the United dressing room after the game to apologise, but they weren’t interested in hearing what I had to say.

‘I never wanted anybody to think that I deliberately hurt opponents. The vast majority of players are the same.

‘But do not doubt that everyone who plays professionally is capable of finding themselves in Taylor’s predicament, even those who bring fantasy and excitement to the game. That is no exaggeration.’

Leinster's European Champions Cup quarter-final against Wasps on Saturday is live on BT Sport 2, which is available as part of the eir Sport pack.