Jamie Carragher has become embroiled in a Twitter spat with Gary Lineker over an incorrect statistic used by Sky Sports about Lionel Messi.
Carragher and fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville dug into the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Messi debate on Monday Night Football, and unsurprisingly the duo disagreed in a fiery discussion.
While former Manchester United defender Neville championed Ronaldo’s case as the greatest player ever, Carragher defended Messi’s corner, with statistics of the duo’s trophy-laden careers being brought up to help their arguments.
Jamie Carragher (left) has become embroiled in a Twitter spat with Gary Lineker (right)
The duo argued on Twitter after Lineker pointed out a mistake in Sky’s stats on Lionel Messi
Match of the Day presenter Lineker however spotted Sky had forgotten to include the Copa America won by Messi and Argentina in July under the ‘international trophies’ category, which read zero.
The former Barcelona and England striker then sarcastically tweeted: ‘To be fair, it’s such a long time since Messi led Argentina to victory in Copa America, they’re entitled to forget it.’
Lineker then replied to a comment from a Twitter user who had been left dumbfounded that Portugal’s victory in the final of the inaugural Nations League in 2019 had been included in the figures by stating: ‘Also 4 Champions Leagues not 3.’
That was when Carragher got involved and started the argument with a sharp reply, and hit back at Lineker with a jibe that Monday Night Football, unlike the BBC, do not use autocue devices to help them when speaking on television.
Sky had forgotten to include the Copa America trophy Messi and Argentina won earlier this year in the figures
An autocue is a device which projects a script on a glass screen in front of a person speaking on television or in public, enabling the speaker to read their speech while appearing to be looking at the viewers or audience.
The former Liverpool defender said: ‘We made a mistake on a graphic over Messi’s international honours.
‘It happens a lot on MOTD. Check Messi’s record in 2006 in the CL, he didn’t play 1 min after 1st KO round, so we counted it as 3.
‘We don’t have autocue on MNF so I’m sure you’d also make a mistake now & again.’
Lineker’s riposte however was equally as sharp, replying: ‘Yes, we do, and when they happen, they’re quite rightly pointed out.’
Monday Night Football dug into a debate about whether Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi is better
Carragher – who has 1.7 million Twitter followers – came back strongly again, appearing to take a swipe at the amount of times Lineker tweets, stating: ‘Not by anyone on MNF, as we realise it’s not easy.
‘I know you spend the majority of your time on twitter but just look after MOTD & we’ll do the same on MNF. If you ever want to come on with no autocue you’re welcome.’
Lineker was quick to reply and appeared to fan the flames of the argument further, retorting: ‘You seem to be picking fights with everybody these days. I hope you’re alright, Jamie.’
Carragher however seemed to cool the spat down at that stage, answering: ‘I’m fine Gary, just sticking up for our stats guy. Appreciate your concern.’
And ending the spat, Lineker – who has more than eight million followers on Twitter – replied: ‘Good man.’
It is not the first time this week Carragher and Lineker have had a disagreement, though their debate over Trent Alexander-Arnold was much less fierce in nature.
Lineker said last month after Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield that the full-back should be converted into a midfielder in a similar vein to Germany and Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm and current star Joshua Kimmich.
He tweeted: ‘Said it many times, but the best passer in English football is @TrentAA.
‘He should be playing, like he did as a kid, in midfield. Lahm switched, Kimmich too. The best players should be in a position where they can more frequently use their brilliance.’
The duo have also disagreed on Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best position
But Carragher disagreed, posting in reply: ‘No he shouldn’t, full backs get more of the ball than anyone & a bit more time on it to pick out their passes.
‘The way [Jurgen] Klopp sets up he’s virtually a midfielder in possession anyway. The amount of assists he gets means it would be mad to change his position.’
Then speaking on Sky Sports on Monday night, Carragher added: ‘There’s always this debate over ‘should Trent play in midfield’ and I’ve never got it at all. I think it’s absolute nonsense if I’m being honest’, Carragher said on Monday Night Football.
‘He’s actually creating that many goals from the position that he’s in so why would you change him? It’s just madness to me.
Lineker wants him to be converted into a midfielder like Philipp Lahm (R) and Joshua Kimmich (L)
‘When you’re at right-back you get that little bit of time, half a second longer to get your head up. Trent is doing so well, why would you change him?
‘Leave him where he is, he’s absolutely fine, he’s not going to create anymore goals [elsewhere] it helps having a bit more time [at right-back].’
Carragher has also disagreed with Roy Keane in the past over Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
After Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester United in January 2020, Carragher questioned the Norwegian’s credentials, but Keane backed his former team-mate, insisting he needed more time.
The initial Ronaldo v Messi debate involving Carragher came with Gary Neville