“There are a few reasons why they don’t do this job.”
What started off with Jurgen Klopp having a swipe at pundits ended up as another enthralling round in the ongoing Carragher Neville social media slug-fest.
Jurgen Klopp has questioned Jamie Carragher after the Sky Sports pundit underlined the importance of bringing in another central defender to Liverpool.
Discussing the fallout from the long-term knee injury picked up by Virgil van Dijk in Saturday’s Merseyside Derby, Carragher appeared to suggest his former club should have moved for another central defender before the start of the season.
With Dejan Lovren departing for Zenit St Petersburgh after the last campaign, Van Dijk’s absence – along with injury concerns surrounding Joel Matip – leaves the Premier League champions short of options in central defence.
“Dejan Lovren went and they didn’t replace him so they only have three centre-backs and one of those, Joel Matip, is always injured,” Carragher commented.
“There are question marks now about Joe Gomez. So there is no doubt that Liverpool had to go big in the transfer market.”
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League opener away to Ajax, Klopp defended the decision not to bring in an extra defender, appearing to aim a dig at Carragher in the process.
“We went into the season with three centre-backs plus Fabinho as cover and some youngsters,” Klopp told reporters.
“It’s hard to have four world-class centre-halves. If anyone wants to tell us we made a mistake, I think Carragher mentioned already. There are a few reasons why they [pundits] don’t do this job.”
Much like Roy Keane, earlier this season in the Sky Sports studio, Carragher was not letting those comments go without defending himself. As he sought to clarify his position, fellow Sky pundit Gary Neville got involved:
In-fighting already 🥊 😂😂 https://t.co/6xJFBeEYyO
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 20, 2020
To which Carragher fired back a broadside about what he perceives as Neville’s reluctance to criticise Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and instead focus on the Manchester United board:
No Gary, just a pundit critiquing the team he played for, other pundits choose not to & instead attack the easy option at the club. #woodward https://t.co/k4W5w7q8L0
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 20, 2020
We think Carragher won that round, hands down.
Ahead of the game in Amsterdam, Georginio Wijnaldum admitted Van Dijk’s injury had unsettled his Liverpool teammates so much that some had experienced trouble sleeping in the wake of the game at Goodison Park.
“This was different than normal,” Wijnaldum is quoted as saying by The Mirror. “The way it happened was really hard for us, and everyone still has a really bad feeling about it. None of the players slept. It’s a hard one to take and it was a hard one for the team.”
Asked how Van Dijk’s absence might impact Liverpool’s aspirations of winning a second successive Premier League title, Wijnaldum added:
“Virgil is a really important player in our team – he has showed that since he came in. He is a leader. It’s up to us to show that we can still put in good performances without Virgil. We have to.”
