Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand blasted Liverpool for a ‘small-club mentality’ and took a brutal dig at the Reds’ legendary players Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness. Six days after crushing Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield, Liverpool were humiliated by bottom-of-the-table Bournemouth on Saturday in a 1-0 defeat. However, in the punditry box during United’s demolition by Liverpool, Carragher and Souness had a field day over former United stars Roy Keane and Gary Neville.
At the Vitality Stadium, Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat as Philip Billing’s goal lifted the hosts off the bottom of the league standings. Elsewhere, Tottenham’s resounding victory over Nottingham Forest meant Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top four were dealt a blow with six points now separating the two clubs, although the Reds still have a game in hand over Conte’s side.
Carragher and Souness should be ‘ashamed of themselves’ for over-celebrating Liverpool’s 7-0 win over United – Ferdinand
While Carragher and and Souness, who were sat besides the former United duo Roy Keane and Gary Neville, celebrated Liverpool’s thrashing of their fierce rivals emphatically, agony might have hit them when Bournemouth brought Jurgen Klopp’s team down to earth with a shocking win over them. Ferdinand was quick to have a snap back at the Merseyside club, as he said on his YouTube channel FIVE:
“That is a small club mentality. That screams small club. Screaming and celebrating when you beat Man United.”
The 44-year-old also criticised Anfield greats Carragher and Souness for over-celebrating Liverpool’s victory last week. Ferdinand continued:
“The way Souness and Carragher were celebrating, the way they were trying to antagonise the guys [Roy Keane and Gary Neville], and then their team goes and does that at the weekend. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
Following Liverpool’s bulldozing of United, Neville and Souness got into an argument. The conversation was started by Souness, who asserted that the former Manchester United defender had verbally stated that he ‘thought Liverpool played badly’, a claim that Neville angrily refuted. The two continued their argument while arguing live in the Sky Sports studio as Carragher, Keane, and presenter Kelly Cates all looked on.
Neville went on to say that the Reds’ second-half performance was a ‘freak’ and that Souness and Carragher were ‘gloating’ after the victory. Souness snapped back, claiming Man United have ‘been getting away’ with results recently and said ‘For me, they’ve [United] got away lightly today, it could have been more than seven. They didn’t turn up.’ To which Gary Neville replied: ‘That’s a nonsense Graeme.’
On Thursday, the Red Devils will travel to Spain for the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 matchup against Real Betis. The day prior, Liverpool will play in the Champions League, travelling to Santiago Bernabeu to try to try and overturn a 5-2 aggregate deficit against Real Madrid in their first knockout stage match. Following their defeat over the weekend, the Reds lost ground in the battle for the top four and currently trail fifth-placed Newcastle by two points with a game played more.