Credit: X
The Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher called La Liga a “Joke League” during a back-and-forth with the former Manchester United star Gary Neville. For creating their combined EA Sports FC Team of the Year for 2023 on Sky Sports, Carragher and Neville were voting together, but there was a sticking point in regards to picking Lionel Messi and Vinicius Jr.
After agreeing on the left-wing and striker positions, the player choice for the right-wing role for Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville came down to Lionel Messi and Vinicius Jr. While Carragher was convinced about Messi, who had won the eighth Ballon d’Or in 2023, Neville was leaning towards Vinicius after he didn’t feel that the Argentine should be added in their combined XI due to their FIFA World Cup win in 2022.
Also Read: Lionel Messi nominated for "unwanted" award after 2023 Ballon d'Or outburst
At one point during their chat on Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher was quoted as saying, “I would pick Messi for what he did in the MLS. Some of the goals and the passes he did… It was unbelievable. What’s Vinicius Junior done this season?” When Gary Neville responded, “In 44 matches, he’s had 18 goals and 17 assists. That’s 35 goal involvements,” he fired back by saying, “For Real Madrid… In a joke league. What did Real Madrid win? He didn’t even win La Liga!”
Although, despite the persistence of Jamie Carragher, it was Gary Neville who won the argument to pick Vinicius Jr at right-wing, an unfamiliar position for the Real Madrid footballer ahead of Lionel Messi from Inter Miami. Notably, Jamie Carragher wasn’t that pleased with losing out to Gary Neville, with his pick not making their combined XI for EA Sports FC Team of the Year 2023.
Here is the combined XI from Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville for the EA Sports FC Team of the Year for 2023:
Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kim Min-jae, Ruben Dias, Federico Dimarco; Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante, Bernando Silva; Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham; Erling Haaland
