Enraged Carragher fires back at Guardiola as Man City boss rocks Liverpool, Man Utd pundits with ‘complacency’ taunt

Jamie Carragher and Pep Guardiola have come to blows after the Manchester City manager complained about big-name pundits from Liverpool and Manchester United criticising his team, suggesting they were nowhere near as successful as his players.

Man City sit third in the Premier League, having won nine out of 14 games so far and picked up 30 points. They are six points behind leaders Arsenal following the Gunners’ dramatic 4-3 win over Luton Town last night, though City can halve that gap by beating Aston Villa tonight.

Guardiola’s side have incredibly won the last three Premier League titles on offer and are aiming to make it four in a row this campaign. If they triumph this season, it would also see them make it six titles from the last seven, with only Liverpool having disturbed their dominance with a title win of their own since 2017.

There have been some question marks over City’s form in the last few months, as they have sometimes not performed at their usual brilliant best. But Guardiola has clearly become frustrated with his players picking up criticism, with complacency one problem mentioned.

Ahead of the trip to Villa, Guardiola hit out at the likes of Carragher, Gary Neville and even former City player Micah Richards.

He said (via the Daily Mail): “Gary Neville knows how difficult it is otherwise he would’ve won four Premier Leagues in the best period of Manchester United.

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“But he didn’t do it. Maybe they accuse us of complacency because they felt complacency (at United). Maybe they felt it. This team so far, no chance.

“Jamie Carragher didn’t win one (title). Micah Richards didn’t win four Premier Leagues in a row. Never, ever. It’s never happened.

Pep Guardiola unhappy with ‘complacency’ remarks

“I don’t have anything to say about the pundits, honestly. It’s not about that (complacency). Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think it’s about complacency.”

Those comments angered former Liverpool defender Carragher, who has hit back by suggesting City have only been so successful because of their huge financial backing and the fact they have allegedly breached a host of Financial Fair Play regulations.

“I think I’d have probably won one (a title) if Liverpool were owned by a nation state, and pushed the rules so far that the PL charged us 115 times!” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I was actually praising Pep’s team after the game on Sunday (shrugging emoji, laughing emoji).”

It seems if the likes of Carragher and Neville continue to criticise Guardiola’s team then they will get increasingly irate responses from the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp will be delighted as Liverpool have been told they are free to negotiate the signing of a Brazilian star.