Gary Neville on Chelsea: 'I had to go quiet on co-commentary. It disgusts me'

"I had to go quiet for two or three minutes on co-commentary because I had to reflect on what I was seeing."

Gary Neville on Chelsea: 'I had to go quiet on co-commentary. It disgusts me'

Gary Neville says he was disgusted by Chelsea's performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

The Blues have been heavily criticised since the 1-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, which left Antonio Conte's side five points outside the Premier League's top four.

Chelsea failed to register a shot on target while City racked up 71 per cent possession in the one-sided contest.

Former Manchester United defender Neville, who was a co-commentator for Sky Sports during the game, branded the Blues' performance as an "embarrassment" on Sunday.

Speaking on the Monday Night Football show, he went on to explain: "I had to go quiet for two or three minutes on co-commentary because I had to reflect on what I was seeing.

"I suppose it disgusts me. I can't relate to it in any shape or form. These Chelsea players yesterday took a day off, took a rest."

Conte branded Neville's criticism as "stupid" in his post-match press conference but the pundit defended his comments.

"Antonio called us stupid, maybe he did, I don't know the exact quotes, but he'll have been equally as disgusted," said Neville. "They chucked it in yesterday those players.

"One thing I can guarantee you is the Chelsea boardroom will have watched that performance yesterday and will not accept it. It was nowhere near good enough and unacceptable."

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, also speaking in his role as a pundit, said the performance raises doubts about Conte's future at Chelsea.

He said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Is that players being lazy? A terrible attitude? I don't know if they chucked it or not.

"You sometimes think of the manager's situation. Do those players not want him there next season? Does the manager even want to be there next season if he's sending a team out to perform like that, with tactics like that?"

- PA

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