'Happy to call him a clown' - Jamie Carragher lays into Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand

Ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said he was happy to call Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand a clown after mistakenly slamming his old teammate Steven Gerrard during Inter's victory over AC Milan in the Champions League.

During the 2-0 win at the San Siro, Inter felt they should have had a penalty when Lautaro Martinez went down in the area. Initially the spot kick was given for Simone Inzaghi's men but the decision was overturned by VAR.

Discussing the decision, Carragher immediately set his stall out. "I think anyone out there who is watching the replay and seen what VAR do and still believe that is a penalty, they must be a clown," he declared on CBS Sport.

ALSO READ: Ferdinand defends De Gea

However, embarrassment was to come for the 45-year-old when Kate Abdo produced a tweet from BT Sport's coverage of the semi-final where Gerrard had described Martinez as being unlucky to see the penalty overturned. Much to the delight of co-pundits Thierry Henry and Micah Richards, Carragher backtracked on his previous comments before taking aim at Ferdinand.

"He is an attacking player, isn't he?" the former defender said. "I mean he was liable, every now and again, to go down himself under a little bit of contact, always contact.

"I can understand where he is coming from. When players in my position, English defenders who are commentating, I am putting myself in their shoes.

"I can understand attackers wanting a penalty like you [Henry] but Stevie was an attacking player wasn't he so maybe he thought there was a little bit of contact. But as a defender we have got to try and stick together haven't we?

"I just thought some people were getting a little bit carried away." When Richards asked him to name names, Carragher