Gary Neville warns Jamie Carragher to not 'disrespect' Liverpool icon in heated Sky debate

Gary Neville warned Jamie Carragher not to 'disrespect' former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino ahead of Arsenal's mouth-watering clash against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

Firmino formed one of the Premier League's most iconic forward trios with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane during his incredible time at Anfield, scoring 111 goals in 362 appearances.

The Brazilian helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2019 and their first Premier League title a year later before calling time on his career at Merseyside in 2023 to join Al-Ahli and is now playing for Qatari side Al-Sadd.

READ NEXT: Liverpool player makes worrying claim about Andoni Iraola tactic despite Ipswich Town win

Gary Neville disagrees with Jamie Carragher in heated Sky Sports debate

Firmino, now 34, was brought into a heated debate with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge ahead of Arsenal's showdown with Chelsea on Sky Sports.

The pundits were discussing Mikel Arteta's forward options, and notably Kai Havertz, who has been the preferred striker option ahead of Viktor Gyokeres this season.

Arsenal did try to sign a world-class forward during the summer, failing in their pursuit of Julian Alvarez and many others, with Neville arguing that the German isn't an "amazing" centre-forward and thinks Bukayo Saka would score more goals if someone better was leading the line.

“The style of Arsenal, and the team that he plays in, and actually the centre forward he plays with, it does make his job harder. If you’ve got an amazing centre forward, it would be easier for Saka to score goals," the Manchester United icon said.

“I disagree with that," Sturridge said in response before the pair exchanged further words.

“Oh my god. So if you play with better players, you don’t think it’d make your job easier?” Neville replied.

“I do, but I’m saying that, within that, it becomes if you’re getting a goal-getter centre forward, you take less shots from the wing," Sturridge stated. "You want a goalscoring winger, or do you want a goalscoring striker? You can have both but…”

Carragher then weighed in with his viewpoint by siding with Sturridge before Neville argued that Arteta's job would be a lot easier if he had Vinicius Junior on the left - another player the Gunners tried to sign - and Alvarez through the middle.

“There’s only so many goals you can score," Carragher said.

“If Saka was playing on the right-hand side and he had Alvarez up front and Vinicius Junior on the left, I think his job would be a lot easier because the other three defenders in the back four for the opposition would be completely and utterly taken away by those players," Neville replied.

"He’d get more chances, he’d get more freedom. So my view is, if you play with better players, you’ve got more of a chance of being better yourself.

"I think having Havertz up front means that the two centre-backs can afford just to edge over to his side a little bit more. Because Havertz is a very good performer, but he’s not going to frighten the life out of you.”

Carragher then brought Firmino into the argument, stating that the Brazilian's presence in the team didn't stop Salah firing on all cylinders, and this was when Neville told his colleague not to "disrespect" the Brazilian, who he saw as "essential".

“It didn’t stop Mo Salah with Firmino," Carragher claimed.

Neville responded: “No, no, no, no. Please, please, please don’t respect Firmino in terms of what a player he was. He was unbelievable. In the way he was a foil for Mane and Salah, he was essential.”

“In terms of goalscorers, in terms of goals. I know he was [essential], but why can’t Havertz be that then?” Carragher then questioned before the Man United legend said that Havertz isn't on the level Firmino was.

“I don’t think Havertz is as good as Firmino in any way shape or form.”

READ NEXT: Fans think Curtis Jones aimed a brutal dig at Liverpool immediately after Inter Milan win

What Jamie Carragher has previously said about Roberto Firmino

Neville slammed Carragher as "disrespectful" for his view on Firmino, but having undermined the Brazilian's importance in this instance, the Liverpool legend once said he was one of the "first names on the team sheet".

Speaking in January 2018, when the Brazilian was flying under Jurgen Klopp, Carragher said: "Firmino is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League.

“He’s highly rated by Jurgen Klopp but outside Liverpool he’s not mentioned when talking about top strikers.

“He’s got 17 goals this season—he’s the first name on the team sheet.

“Yes, you’ve got [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane, but Firmino’s hold-up play and work off the ball makes him one of the best attacking players in the Premier League. He’s a top player.”