Graeme Souness and Gary Neville’s explosive row in full after Man Utd mauling at Liverpool

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Graeme Souness and Gary Neville came to blows during Sky Sports’ post-match analysis of Liverpool’s 7-0 annihilation of Manchester United. The Scotsman suggested that the former right-back did not think the home side had played well before then taking umbrage to Neville’s claim that it was just a ‘freak result’ for United.  

Liverpool caused one of the shocks of the season as they raced to a seven-goal win over their biggest rivals. Darwin Nunez, Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo all scored twice before Roberto Firmino finished off the scoring. 

The game was naturally the subject of significant dissection after the match and Sounness and Neville came to blows in explosive fashion while Jamie Carragher also looked to get involved. Here Express Sport has transcribed the entire argument for your viewing pleasure… 

Souness: “Can I just pull it back, Gary put it on me at the start of the show if I would repeat on the air about I think Liverpool will win well today, comfortably. Gary said off the air that he thought Liverpool played badly today.”

Neville: “I didn’t say that.”

Souness: “What did you say?”

Neville: “I said first half I think Manchester United were the better team. In the second half, it was just about Manchester United’s capitulation.”

Souness: “So that would be nothing to do with Liverpool playing well?” 

Graeme Souness and Gary Neville had an explosive argument after Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd. (Image: Sky Sports)

Carragher: “You said you didn’t think Liverpool played well.”

Neville: “I don’t think Jurgen Klopp, he’ll analyse that game tomorrow and the momentum he’ll take from that, he won’t think oh, we’re back. He won’t fall into that trap. They won’t get carried away off the back of that, Liverpool, at all.”

Souness: “We’re not talking about getting carried away, we’re talking about them playing well today.”

Neville: “Look at you gloating like little children.”

Souness: “No, because you just can’t come out with a daft remark saying Liverpool didn’t play well today.”

Neville: “My point is I’ve seen Liverpool play well for five or six years and they’ve put in some of the best performances I’ve ever seen. They’re still not back anywhere near that.”

Carragher: “So did Liverpool play well today?”

Neville: “They played alright in the second half, they won the game no problem. I’ve said congratulations, well done. Congratulations. My point is when you get beat seven nil it becomes about how bad the other team are. Manchester United in that second half – Luke Shaw, Varane, Martinez, Dalot, that midfield, they were an absolute shambles.”

Souness: “You’ve said they didn’t play very well.”

Carragher: “You’ve got to give credit to the team that wins seven.”

Neville: “I’ve given you credit, James. You’ve won seven nil, congratulations. You’ve got three points, well done.”

Souness: “I’ve never heard him call you James before – you’ve got him. You’ve got him.”

Neville: “You got the three points, seven nil, and that’s fine, but I still think Liverpool in that first half were really vulnerable. It was a shaky Liverpool in that first half and I thought –

Souness (cutting in): “For 25 minutes they were the best team. Manchester United finished the half with about 10 or 15 minutes, before Liverpool scored they were the threatening team. The best chance they had was when Rashford rolled the ball off his studs.”

Neville: “Graeme I thought there was a period I didn’t think Liverpool looked like they were going to score in the first 20 minutes, for me. I felt as though they were huffing and puffing a little bit, but when Manchester United got on top they had a couple of big moments and should have scored.”

Souness: “Rashford rolled the ball off his studs. The best chance they had was Rashford.”

Neville: “To be fair I thought United at the start showed authority.”

Souness: “You think Man United were the better team in the first half?”

Neville: “I do.”

Souness: “Not a chance.”

The show then cut to an ad-break with presenter Kelly Cates managing to get the duo to stop for a short spell. However, they were back at each other’s throats shortly after with Souness believing Neville was talking nonsense when he claimed it was just a freak result for United. 

Neville: “There was something about that second half that was a freak, to be fair. Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t say that was a seven nil game, it was a just a freak, sometimes that happens –

Souness: “It could have been 10.”

Carragher: “Hang on, you keep saying it’s a freak thing, I’m being serious.”

Neville: “Oh my [puts his head in his hands]. Can you be quiet until I’m finished? It was a freak. It was a freak.”

Carragher: “You lost by six to Man City!”

Souness: “Was it cloudy up there? Could you see properly from where you were watching? He didn’t see the same game as I watched.”

Jamie Carragher also got involved in Graeme Souness and Gary Neville’s argument. (Image: Sky Sports)

Neville: “That second half, right, it was an absolute freak.”

Souness: “It wasn’t a freak.”

Carragher: “This has happened before this season.”

Souness: “They were freak results as well.”

Neville: “What they’ve done over the last three months is build enough trust to a point where you don’t think they’re gonna do that anymore, so that feels to me like a massive step out of character.

“We’ve called these players resilient over the last few months, we’ve called these players streetwise, tough, compact, together, spirited – all these words have been used about Manchester United, none of us expected that today.

“You’re all shocked apparently, that’s what we said 10, 15 minutes ago, so this is a freak to me, what happened in that second half. Conceding six goals in that second half, look, they fell apart and they’ve just been called unprofessional by their manager.

“We played in that dressing room for 15 years and were never once labelled unprofessional, so they’ve got to own that. They’ve got to have that living on them, that the manager thinks they’re unprofessional today. Over the last few months they’ve not been unprofessional, they’ve given their all every single game.

“I’m hoping it’s a blip, I’m hoping it’s a freak performance and they finish this season with a couple of trophies and in the top four – that would be a great season. I think that’s what they need to concentrate on now.”