Carra excited by Rodgers' project

In an interview with ITV, the Reds defender revealed his respect for Rodgers' work with Swansea City in the Barclays Premier League last season.

"Yes it is [an exciting project]," said the 34-year-old when asked about the new boss. "We all look at how Swansea played last year - they were a breath of fresh air for the Premier League and I think that's probably one of the reasons why Brendan Rodgers has got the job."

The Swans beat Liverpool 1-0 on the final day of the season to secure an 11th-placed finish in the top flight, and less than three weeks later Rodgers had been installed as Kenny Dalglish's replacement.

Carragher admitted his disappointment at the departure of Dalglish in May but called for the club to move forward under the young but experienced Northern Irishman.

"He has a lot of experience coaching-wise - he's worked under Jose Mourinho," said Carragher. "So we're all looking forward to it. Obviously we're disappointed for Kenny and the staff [who have left] because I got on well with them but we have to move forward now and get right behind the manager."

Meanwhile, Carragher believes Steven Gerrard was England's best player at Euro 2012 and insisted that, under different circumstances, the Liverpool skipper could easily have eclipsed Andrea Pirlo's imperious midfield performance on Sunday night in Kiev.

Pirlo was earmarked as the Italian danger man long before a ball was kicked in the quarter-final and, as the night wore on, the Juventus playmaker slowly manoeuvred his way into yards of space to punish England with pin-point passing.

Carragher was looking on from the ITV studio and while he was as keen as anyone to heap praise on an outstanding Pirlo display, the Liverpool man couldn't help but feel that if Gerrard had been afforded so much time and space on the ball, he would have caused just as much damage.

"If Gerrard gets that amount of time or space in a game," said Carragher. "He could do exactly what Pirlo did [against England].

"Steven Gerrard was England's best player by a long way. There's no debate about that. He's created a lot of goals and been an authoritative figure in the middle of the pitch. He's been the captain and I'm certain he'll carry on as captain until we get to Brazil."

Fans and pundits were united in lauding Gerrard's inspirational displays throughout the group stages in Poland and Ukraine. The skipper provided three crucial assists and led by example as Roy Hodgson's side reached the quarter-finals.

Carragher is in full agreement but feels that Gerrard could have excelled even further had the England plan been to dictate the game rather than let the Italians play their football.

"During the game, Stevie went down with cramp and Scott Parker had to come off and they both put a lot of miles in throughout this tournament," said Carragher. "That's great, it shows great commitment and great effort but ideally you want them on the ball, dictating the game rather than being dictated to like Pirlo did on Sunday night.

"But I just think that's the way England play: deep and defensively. When you receive the ball, all your players are on top of each other and sometimes it's difficult to get out (and play offensively). But that style of play is not just something we saw against Italy, that's something we saw in England's first game against France."