Gary Neville opened up on his two most regrettable commentary moments, which coincidentally happened to be about Chelsea.
Since his retirement in February 2011, Neville has carved out a highly-successful career in media where he has worked as a pundit and commentator.
However, the Manchester United legend has learned he has to choose his words on the microphone carefully, lest they come back to bite.
In the latest episode of the Stick To Football podcast, Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Jill Scott received questions from a number of celebrities, one of which was former Premier League striker Marlon Harewood.
Harewood asked: “Is there ever a time you said something and immediately thought to yourself, ‘Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that.'”
Neville was the first to respond as two incidents immediately sprang to mind.
“I wish I never said the David Luiz line, about him being a PlayStation player,” Neville said.
The United hero had previously issued the scathing assessment of Luiz after Chelsea had lost to Liverpool in the 2011/12 season, where he said the Brazilian played as if he was ‘being controlled by a 10-year-old on a PlayStation’.
Neville added he wished he never called Chelsea the ‘billion-dollar bottle jobs’, which he did after the Blues lost to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final last season.
When asked why he regretted both of those jibes, Neville replied: “Just purely because they’re harsh lines that stain a group of players or a manager. David Luiz never got rid of that.
“It’s a cheap shot, really. It’s that line of humour meets cheap shot, meets the time you’re trying to land one on someone because they’re messing it up.”
Neville’s quip on Luiz came during the Brazilian’s second season in English football after he moved to Stamford Bridge from Benfica in January 2011.
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Although Luiz, a centre-back, had a slow start to life in the Premier League, he soon found his footing and helped Chelsea win their first-ever Champions League title in 2012.
Luiz’s eye-catching form for the Blues ultimately earned him a £50million switch to Paris Saint-Germain in 2014.
The Brazilian was even named in the FIFA World Team of the Year in 2014, cementing his status as one of the best defenders on the planet.
Luiz would return to Chelsea just two years after his initial exit for £34m.
He didn’t need long to re-acclimatise to life in the Premier League as Chelsea won the league in his first season back, with Luiz also earning a spot in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2016/17 season.
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Luiz would then move to north London and join Arsenal in August 2019, although his spell with the Gunners was less successful in terms of performances.
He eventually departed at the expiration of his contract in June 2021 as he sealed a move to Flamengo in Brazil, marking a return to his home country after almost 15 years playing in Europe.
Luiz also carved out a highly successful career at international level for the Selecao.
The 37-year-old made 57 appearances for his nation and featured at the 2014 World Cup.