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Gary Neville admitted to 'overstepping the mark' regarding comments he made about Liverpool keeper Loris Karius back in 2016.
The pundit leveled targeted criticism at the German shot-stopper after a particularly poor performance against Bournemouth in a 4-3 Premier League goal-fest. The German keeper was partly to blame for Jurgen Klopp's side squandering a 3-1 lead in the final 15 minutes.
Gary Neville spoke about the former Liverpool star’s performance, explaining:
"It's tough to win the league without a good goalkeeper… he's not good enough that goalkeeper. He looks nervous and he isn't good enough."
These comments resulted in Klopp firing back in defense of his player:
"The pundits, former players, most of them, forgot completely how it felt when they got criticised. Especially the Neville brothers; the one who was the manager he obviously should know that too much criticism never helps. But he is not interested in helping a Liverpool player, I can imagine."
Karius eventually improved upon that performance and led the Liverpool defense with brilliant displays between the sticks. Unfortunately, his shambolic effort against Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final brought an end to Karius' time on Merseyside.
Neville recently sat down with the Daily Mail, explaining that he had gone above and beyond with his words that day:
"I think I have overstepped the mark once in punditry when I have attacked a player that was above and beyond what I should have done as an ex-pro, a coach and an owner."
"I think I am a respectable human being. I thought I went too far on Karius. I said Liverpool would never win the league with him. He criticised me after and so did Jurgen Klopp. No problem. I look back now and think I criticised the lad too much for his age, his position," he added.
"I actually think I was right. They signed Alisson and [Virgil] van Dijk and won it [the Premier League]. But that doesn't mean I should have done it. I want to finish my career with integrity and I will not call for players or managers to be kicked out of clubs, not on performances anyway," Neville finished.
Manchester City isn't as ruthless as Liverpool: Gary Neville
The Manchester United legend compared Manchester City to Liverpool after the Manchester derby at Old Trafford that ended 2-0 in City's favor. Compared to Liverpool's 5-0 mauling of United, Gary Neville wasn't as impressed with City's comfortable victory:
“City don’t have that ruthlessness Liverpool have, they don’t have that Salah, Mané, Jota and Firmino who will devastate you leaving you 5-0 down in the first half.”
Manchester City notably had enough chances to match Liverpool's five-goal demolition, but weren't clinical enough.
