Gary Neville admits he has been too harsh about some players during his punditry career (Image: Stick To Football / Sky Bet / YouTube)
has admitted that ‘harsh’ criticisms of David Luiz and Loris Karius are the biggest regrets of his punditry career. The icon labelled Luiz a “PlayStation footballer” early in his time at Sky Sports.
Neville has scaled down on some of the scathing takes he made when he first stepped into broadcasting. However, the ex-England international wishes he had also refrained from calling “billion-pound bottle jobs” as they fell to a disappointing defeat in the Carabao Cup final against a youthful side earlier this year.
“I wish I had not said the David Luiz line, about him being a ‘PlayStation player’,” Neville told .
“I wish I had not said ‘billion-[pound] bottle jobs’. 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.”
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Neville also had strong feelings on former goalkeeper Karius, even before the German’s blunders in the 2018 Champions League final. The 49-year-old insisted that the Reds could not win the with Karius in goal.
Rather awkwardly, Neville later bumped into the shot-stopper while he was on holiday in Italy. However, Karius did not take him to task on his previous comments.
“Karius, the goalkeeper, the young lad – I’ve been quite direct about him for a period of two to three months. were getting better under 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.
Gary Neville labelled David Luiz a ‘PlayStation footballer’ (Image: Getty)
“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.”
Karius’ pair of errors six years ago cost the Champions League final, with Klopp’s side falling to a 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid.