Neville fires back at ‘stupid’ Romero claim with Tottenham dig – ‘I know what I’m talking about’ | OneFootball

After being called “stupid” by Argentina star Cristian Romero, Manchester United legend Gary Neville has hit back at the centre-back.

During ITV’s World Cup coverage, Neville hit out at Romero and Lisandro Martinez, having claimed that they are “the best worst centre-halves in the world”.

Naturally, the Tottenham star hit back at Neville after his Argentina side beat England 2-1 in the World Cup semi-finals.

After the match, Romero labelled Neville “stupid”, but the pundit has now doubled down on his comments before the World Cup semi-final.

“Romero played in a team last year that nearlly went down…”

Tottenham were caught in the crossfire as Neville defended his initial comments on Romero, claiming Lionel Messi has saved him and his teammates at the World Cup.

“Yeah, I said they give goals away and they’ve conceded six, by the way, in the knockout games, in four matches,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

“If they didn’t have Lionel Messi up front… those two should go and hug him every single minute of every single day because he’s had to pull them out of the mire.

“They conceded two against Egypt and two against Cape Verde, one against Switzerland and one against England so they’ve conceded six goals in the knockout phase.

“I did go on to say that they are incredible – and those were my exact words – and their force of nature of how they try and win their games, they go from the sublime to the ridiculous.

“Romero played in a team [Tottenham] last year that nearly went down and got relegated in the Premier League, conceding 65 goals, so I think I know what I’m talking about when I watch a player.

“He’s very talented, as is Lisandro Martinez, but they do make mistakes, lots of them, and they have conceded goals. But they are a force of nature, they have incredible personalities, they go and win every header in the attacking box and sometimes in the defensive box and I just see such a contradiction in games.

“He’s relatively young, Romero, he’s not an experienced defender yet. He’s won a World Cup and he’s got incredible achievements. But without Lionel Messi last night and without Lionel Messi in these last two tournaments…”

On England, Neville has also leapt to the defence of Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who should be “wanting answers” from head coach Thomas Tuchel after being given zero minutes at the World Cup.

“Honestly, we were absolutely dead out on our feet. We couldn’t get out of the box,” Neville said on Stick to Football.

“We literally get pushed back, and then the midfield players sag back onto you because their legs have gone. I think the three of them (in midfield) were all absolutely out on their feet.

“You look at today, Declan definitely, he’s not been right since day one, has he? That’s a big problem for us. Him not having the energy and the speed to get to the ball. We know what he’s like; he’s a fantastic player.

“Kobbie Mainoo would be asking a question, wouldn’t he? You’d be wanting answers if you’re Kobbie Mainoo after not coming on at all. Because he can handle the ball a bit as well.”