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Soccer

Former Arsenal captain defends infamous criticism of Chelsea

Former Arsenal captain defends infamous criticism of Chelsea(C)Getty Images
He believes recent harsh words were 'fair'.

William Gallas believes Gary Neville was well within his rights in his recent criticism of Chelsea.

Chelsea came up against an under-strength Liverpool side in last month’s Carabao Cup final and they admitted that in extra-time that they were playing for penalties rather than to win outright in open play.

That elicited a now infamous line from pundit Neville, who claimed Mauricio Pochettino’s men were ‘blue billion pound bottle jobs’ which saw the Argentine manager hit back, and Neville questioned himself as to whether he had been too hard on them.

In the aftermath, Neville ultimately stuck by the gist of his comments, and speaking to Genting Casino, former Chelsea and Arsenal defender Gallas sees no reason for him to retract or apologise.

He said: “What is harsh about Gary Neville's comments? Chelsea had so many opportunities to score goals, a lot more than Liverpool. 

“The problem is with finals, you always remember the winner of the trophy. That game was more important for Chelsea than Liverpool, look at the clubs' situations.

“Chelsea are out of the Premier League title, they have no European football and the Carabao Cup final could have saved their season. 

“Also, Liverpool did not have their full starting XI, on paper, Chelsea should have won that game and that makes it even more frustrating. In the end, Chelsea looked scared.

“I think Gary Neville's 'Blue Billion Pound Bottlejobs' comment is fair.”

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