‘Absolute nonsense’: Jamie Carragher sticks up for Manchester United fans with a passionate defence of the protesters and takes aim at the ‘lazy’ pundits criticising supporters
- Liverpool icon defended fans of their rivals from ‘lazy’ criticisms levelled at them
- Hundreds of fans stormed Old Trafford on Sunday before the Liverpool match
- Most pundits backed the fans’ right to protest against their American owners
Jamie Carragher has given a passionate defence of protesting Manchester United fans who caused Sunday’s match against Liverpool to be postponed.
Hundreds of Red Devils supporters stormed Old Trafford, demanding the American owners, the Glazer family, sell the club and leave, partially sparked by their involvement with the doomed breakaway European Super League project.
Most pundits on Sky Sports backed the fans’ right to protest peacefully, as the majority seemed to, although ex-Liverpool captain Graeme Souness seemed to pinpoint the reason for the protest as the side not being successful on the pitch.
Manchester United fans stormed Old Trafford causing their match v Liverpool to be postponed
Sky pundit Jamie Carragher launched a passionate defence of the protesters on Monday night
He said: ‘I think (the anger) is out of United not being top dogs as much as what happened (with the European Super League) last week.
‘It’s only since Sir Alex Ferguson stopped that the success has stopped and I think that irritates supporters and they have become the focus of their anger. I think it’s slightly misdirected.’
But fellow Reds icon Carragher described those criticisms as ‘lazy’ on Monday Night Football.
He responded: ‘The supporters who really felt this more and marched on stadiums are Manchester United and Arsenal – that’s because they had a huge problem with their owners before this. It’s different for these two clubs, because of that.
Hundreds of Red Devils supporters stormed the pitch at the stadium on Sunday afternoon
The crowd breached the perimeter and gathered on the field, lighting flares and chanting
A police helicopter was deployed to keep a constant watch over the Manchester stadium
‘This talk of Manchester United fans only doing this because they are not challenging for the top honours? Lazy punditry, that’s what I call it. If you’re going to speak about something passionately – and you can have your opinion – back it up with facts.
‘This is nothing to do with where Manchester United are in the league. Yes, there’s been a decline, obviously, but this campaign has been going on for a long, long time, from when Manchester United were very, very successful.
‘So let’s not accuse Manchester United fans of just throwing the toys out the pram because they’re not competing with [Manchester] City or in the Champions League, whatever it may be. That is absolute nonsense.’
The Premier League has still not rearranged the match but may have difficulty rescheduling it given the congested fixture pile-up towards the end of the season.
