Despite his monotone delivery, Neville has impressed audiences since swapping the pitch for the television studios, but his latest observations certainly didn’t impress the under-fire Portuguese.
Since his arrival from Benfica in January, Luiz has failed to find any sort of consistency, recently missing a crucial penalty in Chelsea’s Champions League draw against Genk, with his gung-ho struggling to win significant praise.
Neville, co-commentating for Sky Sports, described Luiz’s performance against Liverpool as appearing as if a 10-year-old supporter in the crowd was controlling his every move.
When informed of Neville’s damning verdict on his Brazilian centre-back Villas-Boas snapped: “It is his opinion, but it is a stupid approach to an opinion. I respect Gary Neville but that is just ridiculous.”
Visibly irritated, Villas-Boas also refuted the suggestion his job was under pressure.
“The owner didn't pay €15 million to get me out of Porto just to pay me another fortune to get me out.
“It's not a question of the owner having patience. We are committed to what we are creating for the future. We have enough talent to compete in all competitions and that is our perspective at the moment.”
By Harry Dillon
