Gary Neville chuckled at Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of his comments on Sky Sports, admitting ‘it made me laugh’
GARY NEVILLE has admitted he laughed at Jurgen Klopp's response to his comments while acting as a pundit on Sky Sports.
The former Manchester United and England defender criticised Loris Karius after a string of poor performances from the keeper.
But Liverpool manager Klopp retorted with criticism of Neville's managerial record at Valencia, where he was in charge for less than four months in his first job as a manager, where he won three out of 16 league games before being sacked in March last year.
Neville told The Times Matt Dickinson: "It didn't sting, it made me laugh.
"It shows they are listening to what's said, which is ridiculous really.
"I never thought it was a good idea to reference pundits, experts.
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"Why would you? Why give them recognition, elevating the presenter and the comment?
"Since I came back from Valencia, what I definitely haven't done is thought I should forget the fact that I have played 600 times for United, 85 times for England, won eight Premier Leagues, been to eight international tournaments with England, and think, 'I've not got an opinion that's worthy anymore.'"
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Neville has, unlike Klopp, also been in two Champions League-winning teams - but the comments are likely to fuel the Manchester United-Liverpool rivalry even further.
Klopp has also appeared on Monday Night Football - but Neville was not in the studio.
The 42-year-old is now a successful entrepreneur, admitting he gets up at the crack of dawn like his late father Neville Neville and former boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
He owns the Hotel Football, across the street from Old Trafford, as well as plotting the construction of a 39-storey tower in the heart of Manchester, along with a pioneering new university and his involvement with Salford City FC.
But he also wonders if the relationships between the managers is likely to erupt in the media, with Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte and Klopp "too cuddly."
Neville added: "Something is simmering. I don't think they like each other that much. When the Premier League is at its best, we have managerial confrontation like Benitez, Wenger, Keegan, Ferguson.
"It's all been a bit nice these last few years and you want incident, passion, tension.
"You want a manager to come into an interview raging. Those are the moments we remember."