Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher didn’t pull his punches when analysing his former club’s 3-1 defeat at Leicester City on Monday night.
Despite a lengthy break ahead of the encounter, the Reds weren’t at the races in the loss as Jamie Vardy scored twice while Danny Drinkwater scored a stunning goal as the reigning Premier League champions won their first game without Claudio Ranieri.
While Carragher was naturally bitterly disappointed with what he saw from Liverpool, he also slammed the Foxes too for showing the character and commitment that was so obviously lacking under their former boss in recent months.
The Leicester players have suffered a backlash in the aftermath of Ranieri’s sacking, and Carragher was left angered with what he saw from them on Monday at the King Power Stadium.
“I’ve been watching football for a very, very long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game of football where two teams should come off the pitch and hang their heads in shame,” he told Sky Sports.
“Liverpool for how bad they were and Leicester for how good they were on the back of how poor they’ve been, just through effort and commitment.”
His views were echoed by Gary Neville, who argued that interim boss Craig Shakespeare would not have had enough time to improve things tactically with the team and so it ultimately came down to the players wanting it more.
Similarly, he questioned why that wasn’t the case with Ranieri, the man who led Leicester to the unthinkable last season by winning the Premier League title against all the odds.
“It’s all about mentality and ability and players will decide whether they want to play or whether they don’t. They’ve decided tonight they want to play.
“I don’t quite get it in my own mind how players can switch the tap on and off just like that. I get the fact they might dip in confidence, but to see such a shift.”