Gary Neville doesn’t boast of many fans in Liverpool. The former Manchester United defender has always been a thorn during his playing days and post-retirement too, he never misses a chance to take us on.
No wonder then that his latest tweet was directed at latest Liverpool signing, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Neville responded to this signing by taunting that the Ox was Liverpool’s best player on Sunday.
He was one of Liverpool’s best players last Sunday https://t.co/zx4riwjqrk
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) August 31, 2017
This goes a little back in time to last weekend because Neville was furious about Arsenal’s performance against Liverpool. The 4-0 drubbing of the Gunners made Neville lambast the entire Arsenal team saying he would put them all on the transfer market.
He was also categorical that Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of the worst performers for Arsenal that day. And through his tweet, he wanted to imply that The Ox was so bad for Arsenal that he was as good as playing for Liverpool.
Is The Criticism Fair?
It is so easy sometimes to get lost in the present that you lose track of the context or the player’s mindset. Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t as bad as his performance against Liverpool suggests. Although it is not an excuse, he was obviously distracted with the discussions about his future.
Chelsea were interested in his services and bid £40million for his services and even offered him £220,000-a-week. The Ox though, had his mind set on a move to Anfield to link up with Jurgen Klopp and was waiting for the Reds to come up with their bid.
So, was Oxlade-Chamberlain distracted with all this and played poorly? Probably so, although as a professional player, there is no excuse for not turning up on the pitch.
Neville’s criticism may be harsh but it is fair in certain quarters as the entire Arsenal team looked pathetic at Anfield. Let’s not take anything away from our team who were magnificent but Neville was right to point out that the Gunners looked absent.
Let’s hope that the performance at Anfield last weekend was a one-off for Oxlade-Chamberlain and he would do well to prove Neville wrong. If he does, I think every Liverpool fan will stick it up to their favourite villain – Gary Neville!
