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Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher featured six of Liverpool’s Premier League winning teams on their 2020 Monday Night Football squad on Sky Sports.
Goalkeeper Alisson was joined by defenders Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, midfielder Jordan Henderson and forward Mohamed Salah in the XI, although Sadio Mane was left out.
After their brilliant start to the season, Tottenham featured two players with Son Heung-min beating Mane on the left side of the attack with Harry Kane chosen as the center forward.
Liverpool dominated the Monday Night Football team of the year with six team inclusions
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville had little discussion about who to include on their team
Conor Coady was inducted after a great year in which he saw him receive a call-up from England
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made the cut in midfield after his impressive start in England, while Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne completed the trio.
Wolves ace Conor Coady was the other defender chosen by Sky Sports pundits after another 12 stellar months that saw him make the England team.
And the main point of discussion in the studio after Chelsea’s 3-0 win over West Ham on Monday night was the inclusion of the Wolves center-back.
Neville said: ‘I disputed Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Conor Coady, Aymeric Laporte and Tyrone Mings.
Coady to be fair to the Wolves’ defensive record, breaking into the England team and his stats were as good as the rest. Laporte’s lost games simply became a choice.
Carragher added: ‘There’s always that question until you’ve played international or European football.
“ I think that taking the step forward with the international team and his personality in defense also deserves to enter.
‘We talked about keeping the sheets clean, his back pass is as good as anyone’s.
Neville said he had just picked Coady ahead of four other Premier League centers.
“It is possible that only Virgil van Dijk in the Premier League is better as a central defender. The back five almost recovered on their own.
The other point of contention in the team was who should be chosen along with Kane and Salah in the top three positions.
Neville said: ‘You can’t criticize Son or Mane. There is nothing negative about them and every club in the world would want Son or Mane to play for them.
“But when you connect the goals and he assists, Son has done better on a team that has not done as well as Liverpool, but that does not reflect Mane.”
Carragher agreed with Neville, adding: ‘I love Mane but he’s going through a spell right now with one goal in nine games and Son has been off the charts, you can’t not pick him.
Carragher stated that he chose Son Heung-min over Sadio Mane because of their difference in form.
What they said about each position
Goalkeeper – Alisson
Neville: ‘He was the best (goalkeeper) by a mile. Ederson was outstanding for a couple of seasons, but his standards have dropped in the last 12 months.
“We are very tough on goalkeepers, but when you are an outstanding goalkeeper, the difference you make is off the scale. From a good goalkeeper to a great goalkeeper, the points that the goalkeeper earns are enormous.
Alisson does it week after week. Even at the Crystal Palace game at the weekend, Palace had a few chances where, if a goal comes in, things can change and they make stop after stop.
‘They have gone from number two in the Champions League and the Premier League to number one. You’re never going to win the league with the previous goalkeepers they had. Not in a million years.’
Carragher: ‘The most important thing for me was that he (Alisson) was out at Aston Villa, where they lost 7-2. Liverpool were just as bad, certainly in the first half against Fulham. The difference was that he (Alisson) was in goal.
“ I think most of the time not people say that Van Dijk made a difference in Liverpool, but I think he was equally important when he came in.
“When you look at the results with Van Dijk, people feel that Liverpool will fall, but they are still the best team in the league and have a few points of advantage, and it is because he is there.”
Liverpool had problems in the goalkeeper area until the signing of Alisson from Roma in 2018
Defenders: Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Conor Coady and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Neville: “I want to mention Robertson on the left back, who is incredible.
‘For three or four years to do what he is doing, the intensity, the quality and the most important thing it shows for me is the consistency.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold is a star, it hypnotizes me to think that this is what a winger can do. But if you want to see what he can become in the next five years, it is with the left back that he plays.
‘To be as good as him on defense, so consistent, so intense in every minute of every game.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold has the perfect person on the team to look at to take him up a notch and go even better than he is right now, which is a certain level.”
Neville advised Trent Alexander-Arnold to use Andrew Robertson as inspiration to improve
Midfield: Bruno Fernandes, Jordan Henderson and Kevin De Bruyne
Carragher: “ Look at Henderson who was involved in Sports Personality of the Year the other night, FWA Footballer of the Year, De Bruyne won it for the PFA award and if Fernandes signed in the summer instead of January he would have been in the running for player of the year as well.
‘It would have been those three fighting. For me, De Bruyne is the best player in the league, I think he’s going to be a great Premier League player when you look back at his time at Manchester City.
‘Jordan is right now when you watch Liverpool, the best way to describe it is that it doesn’t feel like the same team when he’s gone.
‘Something is missing, it gives you that presence and authority in the middle of the field.
And Fernandes, I had a debate with Roy Keane about how far Manchester United was from winning the league. Sometimes a player just lights the sparks.
“For us they were (Fernando) Torres and (Luis) Suárez when he came in, so you are never as far away as you think and I think Fernandes has done the same at United.”
Carragher said De Bruyne will go down as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats
Neville: ‘There are Pogba, De Gea, Maguire who have been captains and Bruno is the leader of the team, a leader by example.
‘He is a leader because of what he does when he gives the ball away. Run after him. He seeks to play a pass that matters, he has transformed the club.
If he doesn’t play, it’s a big problem and that’s a problem when you almost trust him.
Fernandes has been an absolute sensation at United. He’s the leader of that team, even if he’s not wearing the bracelet, he could be.
Bruno Fernandes was praised for his leadership qualities by former Manchester United player Neville
Forwards: Son-Heung Min, Harry Kane and Mo Salah
Carragher: ‘When I think about it, the left side of the attack is possibly the strongest position in the Premier League right now.
You’ve always had Mane and Sterling as good as anything else in the world. Hazard has just fallen in Madrid, obviously Neymar is a great player, but Marcus Rashford and Son have taken a leap.
“Son has an advantage, but we have the best in the world in that position.”
Neville: “I thought Salah would always leave Liverpool. I said it a couple of years ago, perhaps prematurely.
“ I always thought he would like to explore playing in a different country so I’m not surprised (the rumors that he wanted to leave the club).
The reason I’ve always chosen him over Mane is that Salah is cold-blooded. Mane is a team player, but Salah is cold-blooded, which is not a negative but makes Liverpool a vicious team.
Neville said he is not surprised that Salah wants to seek new adventures and leave Liverpool.
‘He’s the type that will do it over and over again and won’t stop. Maybe that’s why Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, whoever is behind him is probably interested. I don’t think Liverpool at this point are forced to sell.
‘There will be a decision in the next 18 months on what to do with it, because if you don’t sign a new contract, or you have to let your contract run out, which they will not do, or collect it and bring in someone else.
Carragher: ‘Even when Man United were the best player and (Cristiano) Ronaldo went to Real Madrid, it still felt like a step forward, since Real Madrid is Real Madrid.
But I think the two Spanish giants have fallen so far, really.
He has two and a half years left to fulfill his contract. I don’t see it as a big problem because Real Madrid spent a lot of money on Hazard at that age of 28 or 29 and Salah is reaching that age now.
“I think when you want to spend a lot of money on a player, you want him to be over 25 or 26 to get that real value for him.
So if it did, it would be a lot of money for Liverpool. I just think his time right now is gone, just for age. ‘
