Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher appears to have opened something of a feud with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Since retiring in 2013, Carragher has become one of the most vocal and respected pundits in the English game. Just as it always did on the pitch, the Scouser’s voice carries weight off it as well.
But having been recently speaking about Man City’s chances of making it four Premier League wins in a row this year, Carragher has obviously rubbed Guardiola up the wrong way. In quotes from The Telegraph during his press conference yesterday, Pep called Carra out directly, along with fellow pundits Gary Neville and Micah Richards
“He [Neville] knows how difficult it is,” explained the City boss. “Otherwise, Gary Neville would’ve won four [consecutive] Premier Leagues in the best period of Manchester United. But he didn’t do it, you know? Jamie Carragher didn’t win one once. Micah Richards didn’t win four Premier Leagues in a row. Never, ever. It’s never happened. There is more chance of if it not happening than happening. Just one Treble before us. It’s so difficult to do it again and again. We don’t have what others have, who haven’t done it for many, many years.”
Never one to let a comment like that slide, Carragher took to X last night to respond to Guardiola’s jibe.
“I think I’d have probably won one if Liverpool were owned by a nation state, and pushed the rules so far that the PL charged us 115 times!!” exclaimed the former Liverpool centre-back. “I was actually praising Pep’s team after the game on Sunday.”
Guardiola makes Carragher exception
Obviously, Guardiola’s claim about Carragher has nothing directly to do with the current Liverpool team.
But nevertheless, to come out and, not attack, but at least address public comments about his team shows where his mind is at right now.
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Having drawn three Premier League games in a row now, Pep is on the defensive. Depending on your reading, that could either be good or bad for Liverpool as they aim to sustain a title challenge.
It could be good in the sense that the Spanish coach is clearly irked and is seemingly letting the pressure of a slightly bumpy campaign get to him. But it could also be bad, as he looks to have the bit between his teeth now.
City are still the best team in the country, and if they turn it on as they’re capable of doing, they should win the league again. Should Guardiola aim to foster an ‘us against the world’ mentality, they could once again become unstoppable. He’s done it before.
In terms of his words about Carragher, some won’t see an issue with it. After all, it is simply a fact: Carra never did manage a league title while with Liverpool.
But it does feel somewhat below the belt from a manager who’s had the luxury of breaking literally hundreds of rules along the way to his own championship wins.
As he usually does, Carragher’s need to respond will split opinion amongst the fanbase. But we like it. Let him have it, Jamie.