Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is unsure about entering management once he retires.

Carragher will hang up the boots at the end of this season.

"If you'd asked me at the start of my career I would have said I was going to be a manager," he told the Telegraph. "I may still be in future, but there seemed to be an expectation it was a natural progression for me.

"I'd read all the interviews with other players mentioning how much I love playing, watching, reading and talking about it and it seemed to make people just presume it would happen.

"It's not an easy thing to get into even if you want it. I always thought just because I love football, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm desperate to manage.

"The days of a top player walking into a major job are long gone. That's quite right, too. No one without experience has the right to go straight in. Players should do their apprenticeship. Sir Alex Ferguson made that point.

"You can mention Pep Guardiola but he's the exception and even he needed a break eventually.

"In the modern era, with the rewards the top players have during their career and the risks involved moving into management, more will look at it and say they don't need it.

"You have to remember how many hours these managers put in to get where they are. I have so much respect for all the top managers in the world for that.

"When you're a player at the top of the game it's a lot harder to find the motivation to follow that route if you have other opportunities there for you.

"I'm sure if I really want it I could go down the leagues and find somewhere but if it doesn't go well, what then? You have no experience, you're sent into this new world and then, before you know it, it's over and you're out."