'I don't feel proud' - Gary Neville admits he was too harsh with Chelsea 'billion-pound bottle jobs' jibe

The former Manchester United star didn't hold back in his criticism of Chelsea following their defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. While commentating on Sky Sports, Neville remarked: "It’s Klopp’s kids against the billion-pound bottle jobs."

Chelsea coach, Mauricio Pochettino, was also miffed with his assessment and claimed that it was "not fair" of Neville to criticise in that fashion. Upon introspection, Neville too realised that he had gone too far with his remarks and offered an explanation for his pointed critique.

Neville admitted feeling conflicted but ultimately was compelled to speak out given the magnitude of the occasion and Chelsea's underwhelming display during extra time.

Speaking on Sky Bet’s Stick To Football podcast, he stated: "I got progressively angrier during extra time with Chelsea, and I thought to myself, initially I was going to use Todd Boehly’s name, but I didn’t want to personalise it.‌ Then I thought: ‘Should I say it, is it too strong?’ I was thinking that as I said it and sometimes when you think that you might think that it’s a reason not to say it, but I felt as though it needed to be said, it’s a harsh line.

"After the game I went to the producer and asked whether it was harsh. He said it might be a touch harsh, but he said: ‘We’re on television, in entertainment and it's one of the biggest moments this season, last minute goal'.

"And secondly, he asked: ‘Did you think they bottled it?’ I said that they froze in extra time, there is no doubt that they were playing with fear and froze.‌ I was actually going to do a roll back on my podcast, the day after, and say that I shouldn’t have probably used that word ‘bottle,’ but when I heard that Mauricio thought the team were playing for penalties, I thought that it was the epitome of freezing."

Neville insisted that he regrets being harsh on Chelsea and added: "When I think of it today, people say it’s a great line, but I don’t think of it as a great line, I don’t feel proud about it. I remember my David Luiz comment 10 years ago, and I regret that because it was personal. I don’t personalise a line anymore. Bottle doesn’t mean cowardness, they just froze on the day.

“We froze in games sometimes, in Champions League semi-finals. Sometimes you do freeze – Manchester United, the year before they won the Premier League title, against Leeds they bottled the run in. We bottled the run-in, when we were without Roy (Keane) in 1998, against Arsenal – we’ve all bottled run-ins.”

Despite Todd Boehly's substantial investment in the club, exceeding £1 billion ($1.3 billion), which has primarily focused on acquiring young talent, Chelsea's on-field performance has failed to match expectations. While acknowledging the challenges of integrating young players into top-level competition, Neville's criticism underscores the disappointment surrounding Chelsea's recent performances and the need for improvement. The Blues will be back in action against Brentford on Saturday in the Premier League.