Gary Neville slammed by two ex-teammates following Cole Palmer comments

 Gary Neville has been slammed for criticising Cole Palmer over his conversation with Pep Guardiola after Chelsea's defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Palmer had struggled in the game, though shortly after the final whistle he was seen chatting and sharing a joke with with Guardiola, his former manager at City. That led to Neville hitting out at the Blues star, insisting he was 'being played.

"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," Neville said on Sky Sports.

"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."

Neville's view drew short shrift from his former England team-mate Joe Cole though. The former midfielder insisted Neville could not possibly know the relationship Palmer has with Guardiola.

"I don’t understand what he’s saying. You don’t understand the relationship, you don’t know what makes Cole Palmer tick," Cole told The Dressing Room Podcast. "Cole Palmer needs to play with freedom.

"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.

"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."

Cole's view was backed by fellow former Three Lion Wayne Bridge. He also played alongside Neville for the national team and Bridge accused the legendary Manchester United captain of 'jumping' on Palmer.

"I get where Gary Neville is coming from because you’ve just lost, but you also don’t know what is being said," Bridge added. "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. 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."