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Jamie Carragher has hailed Kyle Walker as the greatest right-back in Premier League history, edging out Manchester United icon Gary Neville.
The Liverpool icon believes that Walker's enduring career gives him an advantage over his former rival, delivering his judgement with a cheeky jibe. Walker's standout performance during Burnley's 2-0 victory against Leeds prompted Carragher's comparison.
He set up the crucial opening goal for former Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu at Turf Moor with a precise cross from the right wing. Carragher also commended Walker for intercepting a pass and leading a counter-attack that resulted in the team's second goal of the match.
That display was enough to convince Carragher, who then shared his opinion with his usual humor.
"There's a big debate," he said. "Kyle Walker or Gary Neville. Who is the best right-back in the Premier League?
"At 35, he's still bursting forward. At 35, Gary Neville was getting run ragged by Jerome Thomas at West Brom so that, for me, it gives Kyle Walker the final [say]."
Carragher, who couldn't resist a chuckle while making that comment on MNF, was referring to the last match of Neville's playing career on New Year's Day in 2011.
United clinched a 2-1 win at the Hawthorns, but the right-back retired just a month later, halfway through the 2010-11 season.
In a frank chat with FourFourTwo, Neville confessed that Thomas had "destroyed" him.
"I was struggling mentally at that time," he admitted.
"It's never one single moment, but that was the tipping point. I came in at half-time and felt my teammates were looking at me and also having to defend me to the manager.
"I was uncomfortable about the fans singing my name, and uncomfortable about being out on the pitch knowing that I had just been destroyed by not the best player in the world [Thomas].
"I didn't want to be there and I'd never felt that on a football pitch before, but I'd been like that in training for the last three or four months.
"People ask me if I miss football, and I say no, because I remember how bad those last six months were. I went to the end."
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