Gary Neville regrets 13-year-old statement about David Luiz

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Former Manchester United player Gary Neville regretted a statement he made about David Luiz, an Ex-Chelsea defender.

Recently, Neville blundered again following Chelsea’s loss of the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool, saying that the Blues were ‘Billion-pound bottle jobs’.

Speaking on Stick To Football, the British pundit who had also once said that Luiz played like a PlayStation avatar controlled by a ten-year old said the following:

‘After the game [Chelsea versus Liverpool] I went to the producer and asked whether it was harsh, he said it might be a touch harsh, but he said, “We’re on television, in entertainment and its one of the biggest moments this season, last minute goal”, and secondly, “Did you think they bottled it?” I said that they froze in extra time, there is no doubt that they were playing with fear and froze.

‘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.’

‘When I think of it today, people say it’s a great line, but I don’t think of it as a great line, I don’t feel proud about it. I remember my David Luiz comment ten years ago, and I regret that because it was personal. I don’t personalise a line anymore.

‘Bottle doesn’t mean cowardness, they just froze on the day, we froze in games sometimes, in Champions League Semi-Finals.

‘Sometimes you do freeze – Manchester United, the year before they won the Premier League title against Leeds, they bottled the run in. We bottled the run-in, when we were without Roy in 1998, against Arsenal – we’ve all bottled run-ins.’

Though Chelsea’s head coach Mauricio Pochettino replied to Neville’s analysis during an interview, it is possible Pochettino has more to say.