Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville continues to disrespectfully shun the calibre of Liverpool to compete with Arsenal and Manchester City. Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield in the post-October international Premier League fixture to continue their strong form this season.
The Reds have won 10 out of their first 11 matches in all competitions as they face the fixture congestion. As Liverpool lie at the top of the Premier League table, Manchester City remains hovering around them as a threat.
However, another serious title contender Arsenal have stumbled on a few occasions already, failing to maintain discipline during the games. William Saliba suffered the third red card for the Gunners so far, against Bournemouth as they lost the game 2-0.
The poor decision-making combined with a negative approach to games is proving costly for the London club despite their quality. Arteta has enjoyed a lot of spending power to build his squad as they hope to win the Premier League.
Many football pundits believed that Liverpool would take time after Jurgen Klopp departed as other clubs have in the past. Manchester United are still reeling after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement more than a decade ago and the same happened to Arsenal.
The Gunners struggled with relevancy at the top of the table after Arsene Wenger retired as the football manager. However, new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has proven as an outlier, humbly accepting the squad he inherited from Klopp.
Where other managers put their egos ahead of the club and made drastic changes, Slot used subtly in his approach. The Dutchman has shifted the style of play at Liverpool and both players and fans have accepted with open arms.
Beyond professionalism: Gary Neville and his hate towards Liverpool
Nevertheless, certain pundits like Neville have continuously drummed up their scepticism, letting personal bias dominate their judgment and analytical opinions. The former United right-back called Chelsea the “ultimate test” for Slot’s Liverpool yet changed his stance despite the victory. Speaking after the Liverpool victory over Chelsea (via the Mirror), Neville downplayed Liverpool’s chances as the title contenders. He said:
“Would these two teams [at Anfield] win the title? I don’t think so. “What Liverpool are doing defensively at the moment is interesting. I’d like to assess it at Christmas. I still think they’re short”
No one is putting Liverpool as a legitimate title threat but after achieving 10 victories from 11 games, it is a matter of showing respect. Neville has continuously disrespected the Reds through his several platforms which he has enjoyed through his affiliation with Sky Sports.
The Manchester United legend has a Gary Neville podcast, the Overlap and several other sources to widen his audience. Neville’s anti-Liverpool behaviour not only hurts Liverpool’s overall goodwill but also the ethicalities of broadcasting football as a profession.
Neville received stern criticism for his commentary (via GB News) during the game when he accused Mohamed Salah of simulation. He said:
“Why hasn’t Salah been booked? He has thrown himself to the ground.”
Salah has faced unfair coverage which has allowed the opposition to abuse the freedom of physicality as a consequence. Furthermore, the video replay of the event involving Levi Colwill blatantly shows that Colwill fouled the 32-year-old inside the box.
However, Neville has blindfolded himself with extreme biases and unprofessionalism that resonate with his time as a manager at Valencia. Meanwhile, Liverpool have very hard fixtures and they need to maintain complete focus regardless of these trivial noises.
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Liverpool have done brilliantly by building the winning consistency irrespective of the opponents they have faced. Man City won the Premier League title last season despite failing to beat Arsenal and Liverpool due to their similar consistency in winning other games. The Reds will face RB Leipzig in the Champions League game followed by the Premier League clash with Arsenal.
