Germany international Loris Karius has hit out at Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United superstar Gary Neville over the comments the 41-year-old made following Liverpool's calamitous implosion against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Gary Neville – along with former Liverpool star Jaime Carragher – criticised the 23-year-old for being one of the major reasons Liverpool buckled under the pressure against Eddie Howe's men in the weekend. Liverpool were up 3-1 at a stage but went on to concede three goals and eventually lose the fixture 4-3, temporarily halting them from breathing down the neck of league leaders, Chelsea.
But Karius hit back at the former Manchester United full-back and says the once-manager is back to being an ‘expert’ again, criticising a lot of players. "Carragher was here at Liverpool for a long time so maybe after the game he was a bit frustrated,” Karius told the Daily Mail.
"He is probably still a supporter. I have to accept it. What critics say right after the game, I don’t know what I think. If you asked them again would they say it now?”
And when specifically pressed on what he thought of Gary Neville's comments, Karius blew a fuse.
"I don’t care what Gary Neville said. He was a manager for a short bit and now he is back to being an expert again,” he said angrily.
"But he is always very critical. I think he does it to everyone. I just hope that when I do well he will comment on that. We will see in the future.”
But the former Mainz keeper admits he made a mistake and doesn't need anyone to tell him that anymore.
"It was my mistake, no doubt about it,” said Karius. “I think it looked a bit easier on TV than it was but I should have caught it and I don’t need anybody to tell me it was bad... because I know. I am sorry that it cost us a point."
But Gary Neville didn’t take this lying down. The former Valencia manager took to social media site Instagram to reply to Karius’ comments. All he included was a picture of an excerpt of Jamie Carragher’s thoughts on what he felt about the 23-year-old keeper with the comments, "My sincere apologies Karius. You're right. A failed manager hasn't a clue. I won't copy your great fan, pundit and club legend again. "