7 superstars who’ve had beef with Jamie Carragher: Salah, Messi, Ronaldo… | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher doesn’t tend to hold back when giving his opinions and as a result, a number of high-profile stars have taken a pop at him over the years, Mohamed Salah more than once.

Whether Carragher has said something to upset a player or he’s just rubbed them up the wrong way, there are plenty of reasons why the Liverpool pundit has found himself in hot water.

We’ve taken a closer look at Carragher and have found seven superstars who’ve had beef with him over the years, and to paraphrase Kiera Knightley: “they’re all of Salah.”

Mohamed Salah

Carragher and Salah have started taking shots at each other in their latest bout, after Carragher suggested the Liverpool man only speaks when it suits him, not willing to address the media about his and the Reds’ poor form.

The pundit said: “A year ago this weekend Mo Salah wasn’t shy in coming out and speaking about his own situation, about the club not offering him a contract.

“I only every hear Salah speak when he gets Man of the Match, or he needs a new contract. I’d like to see Mo Salah come out as one of the leaders, one of the legends of Liverpool, come out and speak for the team. It shouldn’t always be the captain.”

Just weeks later, he was proven right, with Salah unleashing on Liverpool for dropping him and throwing him “under the bus.”

In the same interview, Salah was aware that he’d receive backlash from Carragher, stating: “After what I have done for the club it really hurts. You can imagine, really.

“After going from home to the club and you don’t know if you are starting. I know the club too well, I have been here many years. Tomorrow Carragher is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine.”

While Carragher has named Salah as one of Liverpool’s best players of all time, the pair also bickered about his contract situation in 2024-25.

Carragher took issue with Salah’s interview after the Southampton game in November 2024 and the pair began firing shots at one another.

“The most important thing is Liverpool winning the Premier League,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“That is more important than any of those players, and if he continues to put comments out or his agent keeps putting cryptic tweets out, that’s selfish, that’s thinking about themselves and not the football club.”

They had another dig at one another following Carragher’s comments on the Egyptian forward.

“I think rather than speak about Trent Alexander-Arnold or Mo Salah I’d probably like to pay tribute to Virgil van Dijk,” Carragher said.

“I think the other two could maybe look at Virgil van Dijk and take a leaf out of his book.”

Salah bit back at Carragher’s comments on social media and replied by saying: “I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me.”

Until his future at the club is ironed out, we can see these two continuing to squabble over the coming weeks.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Upon Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, Carragher was vocal in his criticism of the Portuguese icon.

“I’ve been critical of the Ronaldo signing since he came in and I said that Ten Hag should really be moving on from that,” Carragher told Sky Sports in 2022.

When the pair came face to face on the pitch at Old Trafford, Ronaldo famously aired the Liverpool pundit while greeting Roy Keane and Gary Neville.

“Trust me, Cristiano would’ve seen those comments and would’ve been thinking walking over there I’ll just let this guy know with a little… he needs to kind of calm him down, humiliate him and show him up,” Rio Ferdinand said when commenting on the situation.

“Cristiano is very calculated, he’s very aware of what’s going on, he’s not somebody who sits at home and switches off.”

Lionel Messi

While Carragher often speaks highly of Messi, he found himself in hot water with the Argentine superstar following the comments he’d made in 2022.

Carragher was critical of PSG’s approach in Europe and was adamant that the club couldn’t win the Champions League with a front three of Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Messi clearly took issue with those comments as he took to Instagram to call Carragher a ‘donkey’ in the DMs.

Virgil van Dijk

During an interview with Gary Neville in 2022, Van Dijk claimed that Carragher in his prime wouldn’t even get on their bench.

“He [Carragher] played many games for Liverpool but in the modern game I think Matip and Konate would be ahead of him,” Van Dijk said.

Carragher sat on those comments for a few months and fired back at Van Dijk after Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

“What makes me laugh is Virgil van Dijk said I wouldn’t get in that back four about two months ago. I think I’d take his place at the moment,” Carragher told CBS Sports.

Rio Ferdinand

Since both becoming pundits, Ferdinand and Carragher have continued to fire the odd shot at one another over the years.

The beef between the pair started when Carragher referred to Ferdinand as a “clown” when appearing on CBS Sports.

Ferdinand then couldn’t resist having a pop at Carragher after the Liverpool pundit kept quiet about Steven Gerrard’s move to Saudi Arabia, despite being critical of others making the move.

“Steven Gerrard’s gone. You used to carry his boots and his bags at Anfield to games. Your boy’s gone over there, I’ve not heard a peep out of you,” Ferdinand said.

“I’ve not heard how disappointed you are. I want to hear him [Carragher to] say, ‘I can’t believe Stevie’s gone there’.”

Carragher quickly bit back at Ferdinand’s comments on social media and fired a dig at the former Manchester United star in the process.

“Never criticised Silva, [Karim] Benzema, [Ruben] Neves or SG [Gerrard], I don’t like Saudi trying to buy football like they have Golf. I knew you’d be all over it Rio, like you were in Qatar!”

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho once famously said: “Jamie Carragher talks too much for someone who isn’t even among the top 1,000 defenders in football history.

“How can someone who never won the Premier [League] talk about what it takes to win the Premier [League]?”

After Mourinho’s comments resurfaced last year, Carragher responded by inviting the Portuguese manager onto Monday Night Football.

“I’m currently trying to get him to come on MNF,” Carragher said in response to the Special One.

We’re still waiting for that episode of MNF.

Casemiro

Carragher didn’t hold back on his assessment of the Brazilian last season, insisting that the 32-year-old was finished at the top level.

“I think Casemiro should know tonight that he should only have another three games left at the top level,” Carragher said in May last year.

“I always remember the saying ‘leave the football before the football leaves you’. The football has left him. At this top level, he needs to call it a day at this level and move.”

While Casemiro didn’t specifically name Carragher, the Brazilian did hit out at the “disrespectful” criticism he’d been receiving.

“The criticism is disrespectful,” Casemiro told Sky Sports.

“So, when it’s lacking respect, then it’s worrying, and I don’t have to respect that either. But there is always going to be criticism in football, especially playing for such a long time, people want to criticise.

“But from the moment when it lacks respect, that’s when you lose my respect.”