‘All Season’—Gary Neville Revels in Bitter Jibe at Liverpool

The former Man Utd defender went out of his way to criticise Liverpool, whose manager and captain offered unconvincing excused for the defeat to Bournemouth.

Gary Neville couldn’t help but take a pop at Liverpool. | James Gill-Danehouse/Getty Images

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville couldn’t resist veering off topic to take aim at Liverpool after Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth, a lacklustre display which the prominent pundit claimed to have been indicative of their entire season.

Liverpool were well below their best throughout an underwhelming 3–2 reverse on the south coast over the weekend, yet it still took a scrappy goal in stoppage time for Bournemouth to emerge with all three points.

Virgil van Dijk was slack at the back while the entire team seemed to be taken over by a collective brain fog as they willingly played on with 10 men for six first-half minutes while Joe Gomez was receiving treatment off the pitch. Bournemouth established a 2–0 lead during this damning period.

Speaking ahead of United’s statement victory over Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, Neville was drawn to distraction by the downfall of his long-term rivals. “We’ve said before that United have had the opportunity to go into the top four but there’s no doubt the teams around them are struggling at the moment,” he beamed while in discussion with Sky Sports.

“Liverpool last night, what a soft underbelly they’ve developed in the last few months.

“We were so critical of United for dropping points against teams like Burnley and Bournemouth. Now Liverpool have gone and done it and they’re the reigning champions, so they have to pick up their fair share of criticism.

“I think it was a really poor result for them last night. They looked a bit soft and not there. You’ve been able to get at them all season.”

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Arne Slot, Virgil van Dijk Make Same Unusual Excuse

Liverpool's remain winless in the Premier League in 2026. pic.twitter.com/MVhVSXSRuT

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) January 24, 2026

Slot initially tried to promote of a sense of accountability after the defeat. “The only ones to blame are ourselves,” he told assembled media after the latest Liverpool setback extended their winless run to five Premier League games. Yet, he also took issue with the conditions down on the south coast.

“It is not completely fair to Virgil to blame him for the first goal,” Slot argued, referencing a bizarre passage of play which saw the Liverpool captain have his pocket picked by Alex Scott who teed up Evanilson for Bournemouth’s opener. “You can see throughout the game how much impact the wind had. He wasn’t the only one who struggled with the wind.”

Van Dijk also cited the elements. “The first goal I think it was a difficult ball to judge in the circumstances. The wind was tricky,” he moaned to Sky Sports. “I take full responsibility even though it was a difficult ball to judge.”

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