Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has sparked outrage amongst fans of Spanish football, by way of his latest comments regarding the standard of La Liga.
Carragher’s quotes came during a discussion on Sky Sports, which saw he and fellow pundit Gary Neville tasked with picking their respective Teams of the Year for EA Sports FC 24.
After the latter included Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr. as part of his front three, Carragher argued vehemently that Lionel Messi was more deserving of as much.
This led to a debate between the pair, during which Neville alluded to Vinicius’ haul of 18 goals and 17 assists in 44 appearances in 2023.
Carragher, refusing to back down, then made use of the opportunity to play down the standard of La Liga, going as far as to label Spain’s top-flight ‘a joke league’.
This, of course, comes despite Messi’s contributions at club level in 2023 having come in Ligue 1 and MLS, two divisions of a lower standard than La Liga.
Check out the exchange in full below:
Neville: “The World Cup was in 2022, if the World Cup was in 2023, Messi would be in the team. He’s not because in 2023, he’s played half a season, he hardly played in Miami, I think he only scored seven goals in about 16 games at PSG and they got booted out the Champions League again. My player, Vinicius, has been sensational for Real Madrid. So I’m not having this continual, emotional draw to a player that’s hardly played in a year. But we all love him, we think he’s an amazing player, but we can’t pick him for what he’s done in 2023.”
Carragher: “I would pick him for what he did in the MLS. Some of the goals and the passes he did… It was unbelievable. What’s Vinicius Junior done this season?”
Neville: “In 44 matches, he’s had 18 goals and 17 assists. That’s 35 goal involvements.”
Carragher: “For Real Madrid… In a joke league. What did Real Madrid win? He didn’t even win La Liga!”
Conor Laird | GSFN
