Gary Neville has admitted he regrets previously calling Chelsea ‘billion pound bottle jobs’ and apologised for further harsh criticism of two former Premier League stars.
The Blues lost last season’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool in a Wembley clash that saw a then-Mauricio Pochettino Chelsea side fail to capitalise on several big chances.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk scored at the death in extra time when the final looked set to go to penalties with his goal prompting the Man United legend to launch scathing criticism of Chelsea.
The club’s mass spending under American co-owner Todd Boehly in recent years finally looks to be paying off with Chelsea just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool this season.
Enzo Maresca has been the perfect replacement for Pochettino after the Argentine was sacked in the summer following just one season in charge and Neville has admitted regret at his previous comments.
Retracting on his harsh criticism of Chelsea, Gary Neville was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet said: ‘I wish I had not said ‘billion-dollar bottle jobs’.
Gary Neville has admitted he regrets previously calling Chelsea ‘billion pound bottle jobs’
Neville made his remarks about Chelsea following last season’s Carabao Cup final defeat
Mauricio Pochettino was unhappy with Neville’s criticism of Chelsea following the League Cup final
‘They’re harsh lines that stain a group of players or a manager. David Luiz has never got rid of that. It’s a cheap shot really. It’s that line of humour meets cheap shot.’
Neville’s back-tracking comes as a surprise after he previously doubled-down on his ‘bottle jobs’ verdict, stating in the days after his comments: ‘I was actually going to do a roll back on my podcast, the day after, and say that I shouldn’t have probably used that word ‘bottle,’ but when I heard that Mauricio thought the team were playing for penalties, I thought that it was the epitome of freezing.’
Meanwhile, Neville also revealed he no longer personalises harsh criticism aimed at players having done so in the past when passing comment on ex-Arsenal and Chelsea defender David Luiz, and former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius.
The England right-back described Brazilian centre-back Luiz as playing like ‘he is being controlled by a 10-year-old on a PlayStation’, but now feels that his assessment overstepped what was acceptable.
‘I wish I had not said the David Luiz line, about him being a ‘PlayStation player,’ said Neville.
‘David Luiz has never got rid of that. It’s a cheap shot really. It’s that line of humour meets cheap shot,’ he added.
The former England right-back had also issued previous scathing criticism of Liverpool shot-stopper Karius when he insisted the German was not good enough to lead the club to silverware success.
Karius later made several serious errors in the 2018 Champions League final that saw Real Madrid win 3-1 and he eventually ended up leaving the club as former boss Jurgen Klopp decided to recruit Alisson in his place.
Neville also back-tracked on criticism of David Luiz (pictured) who he called a ‘Playstation player’
The former England right-back had also issued previous scathing criticism of Liverpool shot-stopper Karius
Karius later left Liverpool after struggling to recover from mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final
Neville continued to make amends for his harsh criticism and revealed how he once came face-to-face with the former Reds star during an awkward gym meeting.
‘[Loris] Karius, the Liverpool goalkeeper, the young lad – I’ve been quite direct about him for a period of two to three months,’ said Neville.
‘Liverpool were getting better under Klopp and I remember saying that they’ll never ever win the league with that guy [Karius] in the net.
‘It’s a strong line for a young goalkeeper. It was probably true five months later back in the Champions League final,’ he added.
‘One time I went to Italy and went to a hotel. I walked into the gym for a session and there was just this big bloke lifting massive weights – it was Karius!
‘He could have done many things there and could have had a go at me. It went right through my head on what I said about him, and I know he would’ve known that.
‘But he said, ‘Nice to see you’ and I felt guilty bumping into someone I’ve given a harsh line to,’ said Neville.
