Former Liverpool teammates were on opposite sides of a Mohamed Salah debate recently, as Jamie Carragher waded into AFCON controversy despite the best efforts of Daniel Sturridge to set him straight.

But in claiming that the Egyptian does not have the opportunity to win a "major" international tournament with his country, and is therefore hindered in the Ballon d'Or stakes, the former defender invited a wave of criticism.

As well as Sturridge and Micah Richards in the studio, Carragher has been countered by Ahmed Elmohamady, Rio Ferdinand, and Richard Keys, to name a few.



Salah might even agree with Carragher that his nationality has counted against him when going for the top individual honors.

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And in that respect, John Aldridge has thrown his weight behind Carragher.

He told Betano that the voting process is notoriously selective in what it does and does not take into account.

"Mohamed Salah should definitely be among the favorites for the Ballon d’Or now,” Aldridge said.

"The voting process definitely takes that into account.

His comments can be read primarily as a critique of the Ballon d'Or process, which can be unscientific at best.

However, if he and Carragher are aligning themselves with the award voters who do not set much store by AFCON, they are making a big mistake