Aiming a dig at fellow Sky Sports analyst Gary Neville after the former Manchester United defender gained notoriety this week, Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has defended his team.
After forming an eye-catching alliance as part of Sky’s Premier League coverage, the Old Trafford club and the Reds’ erstwhile adversary have both been known to enjoy a jab at one another. Since retiring from sports, the full-back has had a prosperous career as a pundit and also built a reputable business empire.
When a portion of Neville’s episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast in which he spoke with Stephen Bartlett and which aired in August 2022 went viral on social media, he was once more making the rounds.
The 48-year-old added in the video: “You can have tiny retirements throughout the year, and that’s what I’ve tried to do, albeit I don’t do it very well. For instance, this weekend, from Friday till Monday morning, I’ll be in Spain. I would describe that as a brief retirement.
The host of the show continued, “That’s a weekend!”
However, his explanation of what a “weekend” away from football is for him was the part of his comment that received the most attention. It’s a weekend, a brief retirement, he continued. I basically state that I’m there for three days and that I’m just taking it.
“I don’t worry about work — and I will — but occasionally my finest ideas come when I’m on these types of excursions, but in six weeks I’ll have another mini retirement for five or four days, rather than thinking you’re going to stop for six months and sort of take a sabbatical.
Because of the way that you and I generally operate, it’s unlikely that this will occur with us. So, throughout the past few years, I’ve endeavored to take many mini-retirements throughout the year.
Carragher watched Everton’s victory over Bournemouth from the Goodison Park studio. Thanks to Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal, the Blues are still in the same position as the Reds in the Premier League.
The 45-year-old took a shot as Roy Keane and Micah Richards, two of the panel’s former professional football players, were talking about their summer plans as the 2022–23 season came to a close.
It’s a kind of little retirement. We’re taking a little retirement; it’s not a vacation. That’s all there is, he declared.