Gary Neville has been criticised after telling Cole Palmer that he’d “been played” by Pep Guardiola after Chelsea lost 3-1 to Man City at the weekend.
The Blues took the lead at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after only three minutes with Noni Madueke taking full advantage of a mistake from Man City debutant Abdukodir Khusanov.
Josko Gvardiol got the Citizens back on level terms before half-time and second-half goals from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden made sure of the points for Guardiola’s men.
Enzo Maresca’s side dropped below the Citizens in the Premier League table with Man City now back in the top four and Chelsea now looking up at the Champions League places.
Chelsea superstar Palmer, who swapped Man City for Stamford Bridge in a £40m deal in 2023, was seen engaged in a long conversation after the final whistle with Man City boss Guardiola.
And former Man Utd defender Neville accused Palmer of “being played” by his former manager after he “didn’t do enough” for Chelsea in a poor second-half display.
Neville said on Sky Sports: “I want to say something about Cole Palmer, he was talking to Pep Guardiola on the pitch right at the end of the game and he was smiling with him… Pep Guardiola does that.
“Cole, you’re being played, you’re being played here, you didn’t do enough out on that pitch in the second half.
“He’s an amazing player, absolutely brilliant, but you know something, those Chelsea fans that travelled today, the 3,000 or 4,000 in that far corner wanted better than that, they don’t really want to see you conversing with your opposition manager and smiling at the end of the game.
“I’m not being old school here, but there’s something about that.
“I thought, ‘Pep Guardiola’s playing you here’. I know he’s had him, but he didn’t play him here and he sold him.
“Having a conversation inside, I’m not against that, obviously he’s played for the manager. But I just felt at the end there’s something about it I didn’t feel was right from a Cole Palmer perspective.
“I know why Pep Guardiola’s done it, that’s what Pep Guardiola does, but if I’d lost 3-1 away from home and had been as disappointed as I am and Cole Palmer, I expected more from him in the second half.”
But Neville’s former England team-mate Joe Cole has questioned how Neville can make those comments about Palmer without knowing the full story.
Speaking on the The Dressing Room Podcast, Cole said: “I don’t understand what he’s saying. You don’t understand the relationship, you don’t know what makes Cole Palmer tick.
“Cole Palmer needs to play with freedom, so winning or losing probably hurt Gary Neville and that’s how he reacted, ‘I’ll go within myself, within my shell, I don’t want to speak to anyone and I’ll punish myself’, and I sort of think that was more expected of us from our generation.
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“But with Cole Palmer… think of all the Brazilians you played with. You’d almost think that they didn’t care. They were like lions on the pitch but they had this ability to switch off afterwards and go, ‘Right, where we going tonight?’, and that’s fine.”
Former Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge was unhappy that Neville “jumped” on Palmer without knowing the details.
Bridge chimed in: “I get where Gary Neville is coming from because you’ve just lost, but you also don’t know what is being said.
“You don’t know how Cole Palmer is feeling after that game.
“He’s probably annoyed that they lost, he probably was, but you’re just jumping because of one thing you’ve seen and you don’t know what’s been said.”
Bridge added: “Do you know what? I just love Cole Palmer. I just think he’s a breath of fresh air… the way he plays, the way he carries himself.
“I always say he looks like he’s very relaxed, he’s playing on the park. I think a lot of people can take that away from him.
“You play better when you’re doing that. If you’ve got too much on your shoulders in can affect your game.
“That’s one thing I love about him and I was so disappointed he never played more for England at the Euros.”
