13 December 2023 , 22:21
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Jamie Carragher has taken a dig at Gary Neville ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Anfield to play Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend.
United head to Merseyside desperate for a result after slumping out of the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. That result followed a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, which leaves them in sixth place, 10 points adrift of Jurgen Klopp ’s side.
Erik ten Hag is under huge pressure going into the Liverpool game – and he will be braced for a difficult task at Anfield. The Reds are top of the Premier League and unbeaten in their last nine games in the competition, with Klopp having guided his players through a tough period which has included two late winners.
Their progress this season was not predicted by Neville, who was concerned their 2023/24 season could be a real struggle. Carragher was keen to highlight his Sky Sports colleague’s wide-of-the-mark opinion. He has retweeted Neville’s post from May 6 which read: “Klopp needs to rebuild an ageing squad but no CL is a lot of money lost and they don’t just need 1 or 2 !”
Liverpool brought in Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo to rebuild the midfield in the summer after the departures of James Milner, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita. Before the season kicked off Neville was convinced that United had better options in central midfield.
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"When you look at the actual players, let's take United as an example: [Bruno] Fernandes, [Mason] Mount, Casemiro, [Christian] Eriksen,” he said. “I think Klopp would swap his midfield now for United's.”
Jurgen Klopp has successfully rebuilt his side this season (Nigel Keene/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)Liverpool are clearly in a better place than their rivals coming into the derby. Ten Hag has suggested that United could do with strengthening their squad in the January transfer window, although that might be easier said than done.
Asked recently if the club will sign new players in January, he said: “I don’t think so – and if so, the approach from United should be that if you can improve your team, then you should do. What we expect from every player coming to Carrington every day is for them to give their maximum, to give their best.
“As a club, you have to look for improvements, so if you can find better and it’s realistic financially and with financial fair play, I think the club has to go with it. But realistically, in relation to the market, most of the time you don’t attract the best players in the winter. The top, top players will not leave their clubs in the winter. It’s players who are disappointed, injured or just not the right fit or whatever.”