Jurgen Klopp attacked Gary and Phil Neville after Sky Sports pundit's biggest regret
A LOOK BACK: Gary and Phil Neville's scathing assessment of former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius once inspired a furious response from Reds boss Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp once issued an astonishing public blast towards Gary and Phil Neville for their comments on former Reds goalkeeper Loris Karius.
The issue began following Karius' shaky displays between the sticks for the Reds against Bournemouth and West Ham during the 2015/16 campaign. Gary insisted that the shot-stopper was "not good enough" if Liverpool wanted to win the league, adding that the German "looked nervous."
Karius then tried to hit back at Gary, only for the pundit's brother Phil to weigh in and order the keeper to "keep your mouth shut, do your job, go home, have your tea and play football." In response, Klopp declared that the Neville brothers had an anti-Liverpool agenda and questioned Gary's credentials at analysing players given his own failed stint as a manager.
"The pundits, former players most of them, forgot completely how it felt when they got criticised," Klopp told reporters. "Especially the Neville brothers; the one who was the manager he obviously should know that too much criticism never helps.
READ MORE: Liverpool's 1960 wage bill emerges showing staggering difference in earnings to todayREAD MORE: Liverpool loan report as eight recalled, Celtic move beckons and Carvalho finds feet"But he is not interested in helping a Liverpool player, I can imagine, but that makes the things he says not make more sense. He showed he struggled with the job to judge players so why do we let him talk about players on television?
"I don't listen to them. I am pretty sure Carra doesn't speak too positively about Man United players. Obviously, the Neville brothers don't like Liverpool. I have no problem and if they can cause bigger problems than we have already they have tried. By the way, you can tell him [Gary] I am not on Twitter so if he wants to tell me something Twitter doesn't help."
Five years after the comments, Gary did concede he overstepped the mark with his comments on Karius and admitted he would never be so scathing over a player's performances ever again.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Neville go too far with his assessment of Karius? Comment below
"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," Neville told the Daily Mail in 2021.
"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. 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."
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