Gary Neville reveals early punditry regret after DM from Chelsea Champions League winner | OneFootball

Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville has revealed that he thinks more carefully about his role as a pundit these days, and criticising professional footballers, after he received a direct message from a former Chelsea star.

The discussion stemmed from Ian Wright’s strident defence of Jude Bellingham, explaining his recent Instagram comment about unfair criticism the Real Madrid midfielder has faced in the English media.

“Do you think we’re going to have to be more careful moving forward as pundits?” Neville asked, speaking on the The Overlap’s Stick To Football podcast.

“I think when I first came into punditry 4 years ago, I think the idea of being very direct about what you would say about a player, to be fair, was deemed as being sort of, that’s what everyone wants.

“You want the enthusiasm, almost like you think of yourself as being knowledgeable about the game, but you’re trying to be like a fan in the pub and connect to that sort of football fan.

“Do you think what we’re talking about and how we say things now, we have to change how we do it, don’t we?”

Neville retired as a footballer in 2011 and went straight into a new job as a football pundit, taking over as match analyst on Monday Night Football from Andy Gray.

It was that same year that David Luiz first arrived at Chelsea, having signed in a £21million deal from Juventus in January 2011.

“I think we have to change. I’m not talking about the Jude thing specifically, I’m talking about just generally the responsibility of words and what damage they do to players,” Neville continued.

“I said about David Luiz, that he was like basically like he’s being controlled by a nine-year-old on a PlayStation in the crowd.

“I at the time thought it was a great line, everybody thought it was a great line. Because it was-

“-Except David,” Jamie Carragher interjected.

“No, but do you know something, it says that,” Neville responded.

“He actually direct messaged me about four or five years later. I didn’t repeat the line, but I sort of said that, you know, ‘there he goes again’ type thing.

“He actually direct messaged me and it had an impact on me because he said, ‘Here you go again my friend’.

“I thought, do you know something? He’s a human being, and that stuck with him.

“I’m not saying that it was to be fair. I was trying to think of an analogy of someone at the time.”

While Neville’s criticism evidently stung Luiz, who messaged Neville years later – presumably during his second stint with Chelsea after returning from PSG – the barbed comment also caused a major stir in the media.

“I’m nobody to criticise [Neville’s] opinion, but when he takes this ridiculous route I have to defend [my player],” Chelsea’s manager at the time, Andre Villas-Boas, responded in an impassioned seven-minute press conference.

“You cannot be a top English defender like [Neville] was, and a top Manchester United defender like he’s been [and say this] and I’d say this to his face with most pleasure.

“You cannot approach a top Brazil central defender, a player of tremendous aspirations and talent, saying he’s commanded by a kid with a PlayStation. That’s ridiculous. He plays for the team with most titles, so be careful with what you’re saying.”

“Nor can you speculate about Chelsea’s dressing room. What does he know about the Chelsea dressing room? … Have you been here? Do you know where Cobham is? You don’t even know how to get here.

“You cannot speculate or invent based on assumptions or speculation. Some people can have more or less an idea. But not him. He cannot know. I’m normally indifferent, not watching on the telly to see what these people say. But I was watching the television at that moment, and I was gobsmacked.

“When it is comic criticism, and the lack of in-depth criticism from top ex-professional players, I think I have to defend myself and my players. I have to be aggressive. That’s fair. We know most of these people we are speaking about have a direct past related to single clubs, which are their favourite clubs, which in the end brings a likely biased position in their opinion-making.”

It was evidently water under the bridge as Luiz shared a smile with Carragher and Neville in the wake of Chelsea’s 2016-17 Premier League title celebrations, in which the Brazilian played a vital role at the heart of Antonio Conte’s game-changing back three.

“Do you think when you first came here, some of your critics – Gary Neville – understood you as a player?” Carragher asked.

Luiz replied: “I think with the criticism, you can improve. It can make you even stronger. So this day, is the best answer I can do.”