Danny Murphy calls the guard of honour tradition as “a load of nonsense” ahead of Liverpool’s trip to the Etihad on Thursday.
Liverpool will play their first match as Premier League winners when they face Manchester City on Thursday.
Pep Guardiola’s side will be giving ‘guard of honour’ to Liverpool and insisted that the Reds deserve it.
But former Liverpool player Danny Murphy believes if he was a player involved in Thursday’s clash, he wouldn’t have done it and neither his teammates would have wanted to .
Speaking on talkSPORT , Murphy said: “It’s a perception of respect, ‘the right thing to do’, the message you’re trying to send to the football world that when somebody wins, that you show respect and grace.
“The fact City will be doing it on Thursday will show humility, saying ‘well done’ to Liverpool and appreciation for their quality. I think it’s a load of nonsense!
“I don’t know where it started and why it started, I would feel uncomfortable doing it. I’d do it because you have to do it, but I wouldn’t want to do it, because it’s not done with sincerity.
“If I was a Liverpool player and United won the league, you know they’re better than you, you respect that and you’re trying your best to be like them, so they know you respect them.
“The fans don’t want you to do it, the players don’t really want to do it, it’s all for effect and it doesn’t mean anything.”
Murphy went onto explain how some of the Liverpool players being clapped out by Kevin De Bruyne aren’t even fit to lace the Belgian midfielder’s boots.
“Kevin De Bruyne is the best midfielder, probably, in the world, and he’s clapping his hands and giving a guard of honour to players who can’t even lace his boots,” the ex-Reds midfielder added.
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