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Jurgen Klopp has been at Liverpool two years but has yet to find consistency on the field
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WHAT A CARRA ON!

Jamie Carragher risks wrath of Liverpool fans by saying they can’t win title AND he got it wrong anyway, says Karren Brady

SunSport columnist feels  the Reds' legend was right to say they can't top Man City or United this term - but is sure they could eventually win the Prem

JAMIE CARRAGHER’S popularity with Liverpool fans must have taken a sharp downturn this week.

He wrote that his beloved club have no chance of winning the Premier League this year. Or probably ever.

 Jamie Carragher, now a TV pundit alongside former Man Utd rival Paul Scholes, might lose some popularity at Anfield after his views on Liverpool's title chances
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Jamie Carragher, now a TV pundit alongside former Man Utd rival Paul Scholes, might lose some popularity at Anfield after his views on Liverpool's title chancesCredit: Rex Features

The way Manchester City are motoring there is every likelihood the man with the thickest Scouse accent this side of Reds fanatic John Bishop will prove correct in his forecast.

Carragher may be right speculating Liverpool will always be outspent by City, United and Chelsea.

But he is rather a comedian when he suggests Liverpool cannot secure the players, the consistency or, by implication, the manager to repeat the league triumph they last achieved 27 years ago — when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

They don’t have much time for Mrs Thatcher on Merseyside and nor will they for Carragher if he goes on like this.

 Claudio Ranieri provided the biggest and most recent example - with Leicester 18 months ago - of how the title can be won without having the largest cheque book
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Claudio Ranieri provided the biggest and most recent example - with Leicester 18 months ago - of how the title can be won without having the largest cheque bookCredit: Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 Jurgen Klopp remains hugely popular with Liverpool fans and saw his team put Manchester United on the backfoot in the 0-0 Premier League draw last weekend
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Jurgen Klopp remains hugely popular with Liverpool fans and saw his team put Manchester United on the backfoot in the 0-0 Premier League draw last weekendCredit: PA:Press Association

There are many objections to be made, the obvious one is nothing is set in stone, as Leicester proved so satisfyingly only 18 months ago.

Their’s was not a fairy-tale. It was a true story, the product of each player perfectly fitting the role for which he was selected — of strength, pace, buoyant confidence and of brilliant buying.


DREAM DAY Manchester United stars pose for pictures with young fans after arriving at Carrington for training


Carragher tried to shrug off Leicester’s win as a freak but it was no more so than the marvellous Liverpool campaign that brought the European Cup back to Anfield in 2005.

That victory established him as a Liverpool star — the brave, centre-back who supporters voted Player of the Year.
You need know no more to see why his verbal attack will hurt so many of them.

I understand very well Carragher’s view that money talks in football. Don’t we all.

But it doesn’t rule. Surely, the finest thing in our game is that the little ’un is all too likely to give the big ’un a bloody nose.

 Pep Guardiola has turned Man city into world-beaters, with superstars like Kevin De Bruyne, but over time Liverpool can build their own mega-team
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Pep Guardiola has turned Man city into world-beaters, with superstars like Kevin De Bruyne, but over time Liverpool can build their own mega-teamCredit: Rex Features

Chelsea had to use the ice pack only last weekend after getting beaten by Crystal Palace.

Not that Liverpool are exactly beggars at the league table.

Indeed in Fenway Sports Group, the eighth richest club in the world has wealthy US owners who appointed Klopp in the belief that he had the personality and insight to rebuild his side into champions.

 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian celebrates with Philippe Coutinho after bagging the sixth goal of the 7-0 midweek Europa League win over Maribor
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian celebrates with Philippe Coutinho after bagging the sixth goal of the 7-0 midweek Europa League win over MariborCredit: Rex Features
 Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard lifted the European Cup with Liverpool and they have a manager in Jurgen Klopp and rich backers who can restore glory days
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Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard lifted the European Cup with Liverpool and they have a manager in Jurgen Klopp and rich backers who can restore glory daysCredit: Getty - Contributor

Undoubtedly, the German will be exasperated that a man he will have expected to appreciate the patience needed for such a task has turned on him.

It says much about Klopp’s exciting assembly of players that Jose Mourinho chose last Saturday to defend United’s way to one point — a policy that I suspect Klopp would never have employed.

 Jurgen Klopp went toe to toe with Jose Mourinho in a 0-0 draw at Anfield but eighth-placed Liverpool are seven points adrift of Manchester United
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Jurgen Klopp went toe to toe with Jose Mourinho in a 0-0 draw at Anfield but eighth-placed Liverpool are seven points adrift of Manchester UnitedCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Mourinho, like Chelsea’s Antonio Conte, is a pragmatist. Klopp and Pep Guardiola are perfectionists.

Maybe Klopp isn’t Bill Shankly but he deserves much better than Carragher’s long sigh of despair.

It would be nothing less than a football tragedy if the Premier League became fixated on the wealth of three clubs.

Where does that place Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham and perhaps three or four more clubs who might be acquired by billionaires or, better, find inspirational leaders?

 Jurgen Klopp has been at Liverpool two years but has yet to find consistency
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Jurgen Klopp has been at Liverpool two years but has yet to find consistencyCredit: Rex Features

The appeal of our league is its diversity of styles and intense competitiveness.

The world of football rates it the most watchable exactly because of its unpredictability rather than the certainties of other leagues.

We don’t need Carragher’s gloomy predictions and neither do Liverpool.




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