Rio Ferdinand continues row with Jamie Carragher as he joins Boris Becker in sticking boot into Liverpool legend
RIO Ferdinand fired more shots at Jamie Carragher after tennis icon Boris Becker blasted the Liverpool legend.
Carragher has faced the heat after giving his reasons for why he thinks the Africa Cup of Nations is not a “major tournament“.
Carragher, 47, spoke on Sky Sports after Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Manchester City and appeared to suggest that playing at Afcon worked against Mo Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or.
The former centre-back hinted that Salah can’t win a major tournament – in his eyes, the Euros, Copa America, or the World Cup – for which Egypt are not heavily fancied.
But that opinion brought him criticism from the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards, and Ferdinand – the latter of which Carragher called a “clown” this week.
And now three-time Wimbledon champion Becker has joined the pile-on regarding a separate issue.
Carragher had weighed in on Vincent Kompany‘s tenure at Bayern Munich after the German side squeezed past Celtic in the Champions League play-offs last week, after beating the Scottish champs 3-2 on aggregate.
The pundit said: “Bayern have not convinced me at all yet.
“Now they are playing against Leverkusen, who dominated Bayern in the Bundesliga recently. It’s a 50-50 tie.
“In the end, I’m predicting Leverkusen to advance. If Kompany does not win, there will be many question marks about his appointment.
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“Because the league is expected and the Champions League is the icing on the cake of a season. They have to reach at least the semi-finals.“
But Becker, a Bayern fan who has been a board member, hit back: “There haven’t been any questions regarding the appointment of Kompany!
“In fact, Bayern just said domestic title is the most important trophy this year and are happy with the work of Kompany! Jamie is NOT well informed at all.”
And Ferdinand couldn’t resist capitalising on his former rival’s woes.
The Manchester United legend simply replied to the tweet and said: “Boris… he’s having a bad couple weeks. Let him off”.
Ferdinand and Carragher’s clash has centred around the latter’s take on the Afcon, which has made huge headlines.
Carragher was pulled up live on air by Sturridge and Richards for saying: ‘I think the problem is the fact Salah is with Egypt.
“And he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament.”
Richards hit back: “Just to say, Afcon is a major tournament because a lot of people are at home saying ‘they aren’t taking it serious’. Afcon is a big tournament, just so you know.”
Ferdinand, 46, caught wind of Carragher’s statement and argued that sort of thought process is “ignorant”.
Carragher heard what Ferdinand had to say on Instagram and hit back with a fiery response on the comments’ section.
The Liverpool great branded his fellow Premier League hero a “clown” as he insisted his words were taken out of context.
Carragher responded: “I didn’t say that you clown. Stop playing to the gallery like you always do.”
Plenty of people have agreed with Carragher – including Joey Barton, who issued an impassioned video defence of his take.
Ballon d’Or winners have often tasted glory in either the Champions League or an international tournament – typically the Euros or Copa America.
No African star has won the gong since George Weah in 1995, while Sadio Mane finished second in the 2022 edition.
Meanwhile, Carragher also got on the bad side of Pep Guardiola last week.
The Manchester City boss fumed at “not nice” claims Erling Haaland ducked the club’s blockbuster Champions League second-leg because he was scared of Antonio Rudiger.
Carragher implied the Norway ace wanted to avoid Real’s fit-again centre-back Rudiger, 31.
Speaking as pundit on CBS, he said: “It’s Rudiger-itis is it? Is that what we’re saying here?”
Ahead of City’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, Guardiola shook his head in disbelief when told of Carra’s stunning comments.
He said: “Oh, God. Did he say that? Jamie Carragher said that? Oh God. Don’t laugh. I don’t know why he makes that suspicious, you know that?