Carragher and Neville disagree over three spots in combined Premier League XI
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher disagreed on just three players as they revealed their Premier League XIs for the season on Monday Night Football.
The two Sky Sports pundits continued their traditional mid-season awards after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle by selecting their winners for various awards, including best young player and coach of the year.
They agreed over individual awards for Mohamed Salah, Phil Foden and Pep Guardiola, and even selected eight of the same players for team of the season.
But there were unsurprisingly some differences between the two former players’ picks which resulted in the pair clashing over each other’s omissions.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger, Joao Cancelo, Declan Rice, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Phil Foden all made it into both XIs.
Neville chose an unorthodox 3-4-3 formation, which meant picking Ruben Dias as an additional defender and Rodri in the middle, along with Alisson Becker in goal.
Carragher, on the other hand, picked Arsenal summer signing Aaron Ramsdale as his goalkeeper, while a back four meant he was able to pick two extra central-midfielders in Bernardo Silva and Conor Gallagher.
Do you think Carragher selected a better team than Neville? Let us know in the comments section.
Don't miss a thing with our football updates!
Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news?
Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star football email newsletter!
From the latest transfer news to the agenda-setting stories, get it all in your email inbox – don't miss a thing.
How do you sign up?
It only takes a matter of seconds.
Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article and hit 'subscribe'.
And that's it, job done. You'll receive an email with all of the top news stories every single morning.
You can find out more information on our email newsletter on this link here.
Discussing his team, Neville said: “I just thought Dias, Van Dijk and Rudiger have been absolutely outstanding at their clubs.
“I wanted to get two midfield players in. I think Rodri has been absolutely incredible this year at City, he’s been absolutely amazing. Underrated, under-appreciated, someone who does the job week-in, week-out. The improvement in him is massive.”
A baffled Carragher asked: “How the hell have you not put Bernardo Silva in your team?” to which Neville replied “Just haven’t.”
Neville then scrutinised Carragher’s decision to omit Rodri, asking: “How have you not put Rodri in? He’s been unbelievable,” while Carragher responded “I’ve put Rice in that position.”
Carragher quizzed the Mancunian by saying: “You’ve got Rice and Rodri. Isn’t that the same player?”
But Neville inisted that he had picked players suitable for his formation, saying: “Rodri and Declan Rice are the two best central midfielders. I’ve played a different system, I wanted to get three centre-backs in.”
Source: Read Full Article