Jamie Carragher appears to have accepted Rio Ferdinand 's explanation that his "small club mentality" jibe at Liverpool was a joke.
Ferdinand slammed the Reds for their defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, which was a serious blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four. Philip Billing's first-half goal was enough to secure the three points for the Premier League strugglers.
The dismal defeat came less than a week after Jurgen Klopp's side smashed fierce rivals Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield. The Reds scored six second-half goals to claim a record win over Erik ten Hag's men, leaving Carragher delighted.
But Ferdinand took aim at Klopp's side on Monday has he took delight in the Reds' defeat at the Vitality Stadium. He branded Liverpool a "small club" for the manner of their celebrations after the win over United and then slipping to defeat at a relegation candidate.
"Liverpool fans talk to me please now. My mates on the Whatsapp groups, all Liverpool fans. Up the Cherries, liberties, seriously. That is a small club mentality isn't it, that screams small club," he told Vibe with Five.
"Screaming and celebrating when they beat Man United the way they did and they battered us, hands up. The way Souness and Carragher were celebrating, they way they were trying to antagonise the guys.
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"Then their team goes and does that at the weekend, should be ashamed of themselves. Liverpool ain't finishing in the Champions League I don't think. They're going to get slapped (by Real Madrid ), they're going to get hurt."
Ferdinand was hit by a fierce backlash from Liverpool fans in the wake of those comments. He took to Twitter to try to calm the storm, writing: "Liverpool fans stop tweeting me with anger… it was tongue in cheek ffs! Altho @Carra23 was antagonising Nev & Keano."
Carragher appeared to accept Ferdinand's explanation, replying to the United icon's tweet with the 100 emoji and two laughing faces. Carragher antagonised United fans last week by openly drinking a can of 7Up! during his punditry duties on CBS Sports.
Liverpool will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat to Bournemouth when they travel to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Reds are all but out of the competition after losing 5-2 in the first leg at Anfield.
They are not back in Premier League action until the start of April, with their game against Fulham this weekend postponed as a result of the Cottagers' involvement in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
United will be Fulham's opposition in the last eight of that competition, with Marco Silva's men travelling to Old Trafford on Sunday.
