The big interview: Jamie Carragher on Morgan, Pulis and Steven Gerrard

After 17 years, 705 games and 184 goals for the Reds, Gerrard brings the curtain down on his time at Liverpool with a final appearance at his beloved Anfield in the tea-time clash against Crystal Palace today.

There won't be a dry eye in the house and Carragher, who played in many of those matches with Gerrard, will be there to see his old colleague's final outing in a red shirt in front of the Kop before he leaves for Los Angeles Galaxy.

But Carragher, at 37 three years Gerrard's senior, believes the midfielder, who bows out following the last game of the season at Stoke a week tomorrow, should have seen out his playing days at Anfield.

"I always thought he'd be a one-club man and I'd have preferred to see him stay at Liverpool," said the former centre-back.

"He'll have to prepare for a lower standard of football but Los Angeles may just beat the Bluebell Estate in Huyton!"

But Carragher believes Gerrard's place in the pantheon of Premier League midfield greats is assured.

"He's an all-time great," he said. "Steven tops the list although Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira were more holding midfielders."

Gerrard had several chances to leave Liverpool, most notably turning down Chelsea twice and Real Madrid.

Carragher believes the midfielder was right to stay put earlier in his career when Jose Mourinho came calling.

"When he turned down Chelsea in 2004, it was 100 per cent the right thing for him to do," said Carragher.

"I don't agree with moving to a rival club," he said. "You fight to get your club to the top and that's what he did the year after, when we won the Champions League.

"Real Madrid is different though. There might be a point in years to come when Stevie might think to himself; 'I could have played with Zidane and Figo rather than Jamie Carragher!'"

For all his acclaim – and for many Gerrard is Liverpool's greatest player – the one domestic honour that eluded him was the Premier League title.

And Carragher, who also missed out on a top-flight winner's medal, admits his mate would have won more silverware by moving clubs.

"If he'd gone to Chelsea, Inter Milan or Real Madrid, he'd have had more medals but those wouldn't have meant as much as those he won with Liverpool," he said.

Like Gerrard, Carragher played in England's so-called 'golden generation' of stars that ultimately failed to deliver on the biggest stages.

Reasons for the lack of success for the national team has been debated long and hard.

Many believe the huge influx of foreign stars has stunted the development of homegrown talent, with the percentage of English-qualified players in the Premier League at an all-time low of 32 per cent.

But Carragher, now a successful and forthright pundit for Sky Sports TV, disagrees.

The former defender, who from the ages of 14 to 16 was part of the long since abandoned FA's National School of Excellence at Lilleshall, reckons the cream of young English talent will always rise to the top.

He believes they will benefit from playing with and against the best foreign players, but that the worst imports need to be weeded out.

"A lot of it is about opportunity and whether a lot of the youngsters around get that opportunity," he said.

"We're fortunate at Liverpool now where we have a manager in Brendan Rodgers who will give young players a chance, so that's great for our club.

"But I don't see that sort of intent around when you're looking around the Premier League."

Carragher believes other managers are scared to give youth a chance because of fearing for their jobs in such a results-driven environment.

"Players must be given a chance, but there's so much pressure now on results and managers' jobs that few of them want to take the risk," he said.

"Thankfully, there's someone who I support who is prepared to do that.

"We want the best foreigners here – there's no doubt about that – we want to bring world class players here, keep them and we want more to come.

"It makes our game great and I think it helps our players as well, bringing them on by playing alongside them and against them.

"It's the ones who are maybe cheap imports who don't offer too much where a young homegrown player could fill that position where the problems lie.

"That's always been the problem.

"So we don't want to stop all foreign players – we just want to stop the ones who don't do very well!"

Carragher's point is borne out with the emergence of 21-year-old Harry Kane, who carries England's hopes and is set to make his 100th league appearance of his career this weekend as he seeks his 31st club goal of the season.

"The case is point is Harry Kane," he said.

"He'd been loaned out to different clubs then went back to Tottenham, and they maybe didn't fancy him at times under different managers. But eventually he was given his opportunity and look at him flourishing now.

"No matter how good a player becomes, you still need that opportunity and that manager willing to be brave enough to give you your debut.

"Then it's up to the player whether he sinks or swims."

Carragher won 38 England caps but eventually retired from international football after being forced to play second fiddle behind John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

Boss Roy Hodgson doesn't have the same quality at the heart of his defence now with Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill the main pairing. But Carragher believes more world class defenders will emerge.

"At the moment I don't think we have centre-backs who could match John Terry and Rio Ferdinand," he said.

"They had a decade together but that happens and it goes in cycles. Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill are two fantastic Premier League centre-backs and for Chelsea Cahill plays alongside Terry, who I still think is the best English central defender we've got."

Carragher believes Terry was right to quit England and believes his club form has shown it was the correct decision.

"I think it's moved on from him reconsidering his retirement from international football and his form for Chelsea shows it was the right thing to do," he said.

"But there will be centre-backs coming through in the future because we always produce players, I have no doubt."

Carragher is at an age where many of his peers consider going into coaching or management.

The Liverpool great admits he never had any offers to try his hand at being a boss and is happy in his role summarising for the satellite giant for now.

"I feel by working for Sky and analysing football is an extension of staying in the game," he said.

"It's different from coaching or management but I left Liverpool and was never really offered such a role to stay in the game.

"I was offered a role at Sky and I took it and I enjoy it.

"I'm part way through my coaching badges so I haven't finished them all – who knows after that?

"But I'm enjoying what I'm doing – if I wasn't, I'd maybe look for a role in coaching or management.

"I certainly don't want to coach or manage at the moment but I wouldn't rule it out in the future.

"If that opportunity comes along and I'm a success at it I will remind people of the good things they said about me – if not, I'll say people were talking nonsense!"

If he did reconsider and return to the game, he wouldn't rule out starting at the bottom, unlike other Anfield legends such as Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes, who cut their teeth at Liverpool and Celtic respectively, with very different results.

"It's vital you get experience under your belt at different levels of football and that can only help your education as a coach or manager," he said.

"But it's all about opportunity – it's like playing, you don't know where you'll be offered a position so I think if that offer came up, I'd have to decide if it was right for me and my family."

One manager Carragher does think is in the right place is Wolves boss Kenny Jackett.

Carragher knows Molineux chairman Steve Morgan well from the multi-millionaire's time as a Liverpool fan and recalls him trying to buy the club.

Despite his huge investment at Wolves, fans remain sceptical of Morgan.

But Carragher believes the property tycoon's heart is in the right place and that he will achieve lasting success at Molineux.

"I would never argue with any set of supporters because they know their club better than me and if they're not happy with Steve Morgan then maybe he needs to get into dialogue with them or explain his way of thinking," he said.

"But there's no doubt he's a passionate man about football.

"I've met him on numerous occasions and he was a huge Liverpool fan.

"He was desperate at one stage to become involved in the running of Liverpool.

"He took over at Wolves but I think in Kenny Jackett he's got the right manager to bring them back into the Premier League.

"It's been a struggle for them at times since he's been there, but Steve's a fighter – I know that from his personality and his character.

"And the man I know will be desperate to get Wolves back to where they think they belong and competing in the Premier League.

"If Wolves get back there I think they will always be one of those clubs that struggle to stay up.

"But to become a top 10 club is very difficult because there are so many teams wanting to do that.

"Every team believes they're big enough and feels they should be there.

"For Wolves, to be in the Premier League alone is an achievement.

"Perhaps they might have to go back down and come back, but if they can stay there for years on end, then retaining that Premier League status should be looked upon as a plus."

Another of our region's managers Carragher admires is Jackett's one-time Watford team-mate Tim Sherwood, who was a Dalglish 'disciple' at Blackburn.

He believes Sherwood will continue to revitalise Villa.

"Under Tim Sherwood they're playing a lot differently to what we have seen from them in the last few years," said Carragher.

"Christian Benteke was outstanding for Villa in his first season and last season wasn't so great for him although he finished the campaign really well and his goals kept Villa up.

"This season he struggled before Christmas but the appointment of Tim has brought about a greater urgency about the team, even though it's the same players.

"There's greater energy on and off the pitch and you can just feel it in the way Tim celebrates when they score.

"It's transmitted onto the field of play and it's played right into Benteke's hands."

Sherwood has led Villa to their first FA Cup final in 15 years and almost to Premier League safety but Carragher believes the former Tottenham interim boss can take them on to better things.

"I think so. He's not scared of the challenge and you can see that in his interviews and the way he speaks," he said.

"He's exactly what Villa need – a bit of life, a bit of energy because I've been to Villa Park a lot of times when it's just been a bit flat with no atmosphere and he's changed that.

"No one wants to see Villa struggling because it's the biggest club in the Midlands and one of the biggest in the country.

"You want to see a good Aston Villa because that will help the Premier League."

Continuing on the regional theme, Carragher also believes Tony Pulis could be at Albion for the long haul – if he shares the same vision as the club's top brass, whether or not chairman Jeremy Peace sells.

"I think so. He had problems with the Crystal Palace chairman but got on fantastically well with the Coates family at Stoke and was there a long time," he said.

"So it all comes down to his relationship with the owner Jeremy Peace and then the new owners if and when they come in.

"That relationship between an owner or chairman, chief executive and a manager is vital to a football club, and as long as that is strong, I think Tony will stay."

Carragher always thought Albion would be safe but believes they gave themselves a scare after complacency crept in.

"I always thought they would be fine – the problem was I think they thought they were out of trouble when they weren't," he said.

"Maybe they took their foot off the gas with those two home games against QPR and Leicester in April and conceded a lot of goals.

"But I could always see them getting back to keeping clean sheets to the end of the season.

"Tony Pulis will have been drilling that into them on the training ground."

Carragher was in the region not for football, but for ice hockey, as the special guest of Telford Tigers, presenting the awards at their end-of-season dinner at Shifnal's Park Hall Hotel.

With his Liverpool connections, he was invited through Andy Heaton, who is a partner in the Anfield Wrap, one of the world's leading sports podcasts, who work with Tigers' owners Red Touch Media.

And despite it being more than two decades on from when he was last here, returning to this corner of Shropshire brought the memories flooding back for Carragher, who combined his football with academic studies at Idsall School.

"I was at Idsall with Stephen Clemence, who's now the assistant manager to Steve Bruce at Hull City and Gavin McCann, the year before had Jody Morris who played for Chelsea and Michael Owen was a couple of years below, and he was maybe the biggest name to come from the school," he recalled.

"We drove through Shifnal to get here and I remember it well.

"It was nice because the way we came in was the way we used to drive in from Lilleshall to Shifnal on the bus to school.

"You can take yourself back to when you were 14 or 15 and it reminded me of some nice little memories and what we used to get up to!

"It was character building because it was the first time I'd left home and the friends I made here have left a bond for life.

"I'd recommend it to anyone. I don't think the same sort of thing exists now because the academies provide all the training, but it was an experience I will never forget."