Jamie Carragher has hit back at “hypocritical” Chelsea fans after criticism of his comments over Manchester United and Thomas Tuchel.
With the current turmoil engulfing the reigning European and world club champions following UK Government sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich, Liverpool legend and prominent pundit Carragher suggested that Manchester United could swoop for Blues boss Tuchel as they seek a permanent successor to interim coach Ralf Rangnick.
The idea of exploiting Chelsea’s vulnerable state at such an uncertain time quickly drew a backlash from supporters, with Tuchel having vowed to stay at the club until at least the end of the season.
However, Carragher doubled down on his position during an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme, insisting such a move would only be consistent with how Chelsea themselves have acted towards their rivals during Abramovich’s 19-year reign at Stamford Bridge.
“The Chelsea fans are very passionate about their club and at this moment feel like the world is attacking them, and they are defending their club. I totally get that. But l wouldn’t change my opinion on it,” Carragher said.
“And the reason l think it’s a little bit hypocritical of Chelsea supporters is because if teams - such as Manchester United with the manager, or other clubs with the players - are going to take advantage of the situation that Chelsea are in right now, Chelsea have been doing that for 20 years.
“That was the big thing of Roman Abramovich coming - ‘we can throw our money about and get who we want’.
“The first thing they did was go to Manchester United and take Peter Kenyon as their CEO. ‘We’ll go to Liverpool and take the best midfielder in Europe and destabilise that club for two summers’ - they didn’t get him. ‘We’ll get Ashley Cole, an Invincible who has won everything at Arsenal. Yeah, we’ll go and get him. We get caught tapping up? Doesn’t matter, we’ll pay the fine’.
“England, flying at the time with Sven-Goran Eriksson. ‘England manager? No, we want him as Chelsea manager. Don’t worry about what he’s doing with the FA, we want him and we’ll pay the fine’.
“Chelsea have taken advantage of every other club in the last 20 years because of Roman Abramovich.
“So if l give an opinion on someone taking advantage of them, that is just a way of life. That’s the way it may be for Chelsea and you have to accept that.
“Some of the things we’ve seen at Chelsea, such as closing the club shop and stopping kids from getting Mason Mount on the back of their shirts, I don’t agree with that and I certainly don’t want Chelsea to go to the wall.
“But, if that’s my opinion of it, I certainly don’t want Chelsea fans questioning that opinion next time I go there because it’s exactly what they have done for the last 20 years.”
