Gary Neville is one of the most vocal ex-players in the Premier League and the Manchester United legend’s recent comments have irked one of his former Liverpool rivals

Robbie Fowler has slammed Gary Neville for suggesting the Liverpool legend would have been a better player at Manchester United.

Fowler is the Merseysiders’ seventh-highest goalscorer and the ninth highest in Premier League history. Many fans and pundits alike decried the fact that Fowler did not receive as many opportunities for England as other forwards.

He was once linked with a £15million move to Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in 2000 but stayed at Anfield for another season before joining Leeds United in 2001. Fowler is often regarded as one of the finest youth products to ever emerge from Liverpool’s academy.

Despite his legendary status at Anfield, Neville thinks Fowler would have transformed into an even better player if he was playing alongside Ferguson’s ‘Class of 92’ side.

Neville recently said on the Overlap: “Can I make a controversial statement? Might not even be controversial. Robbie Fowler could have been England’s greatest ever goalscorer, if he hadn’t have grown up in that Liverpool team.”

He also suggested Fowler’s trophy haul would have been greater had he been part of United. Fowler was left unhappy by Neville’s comments about his Liverpool team-mates.

He said to talkSPORT: “I mean, that’s disrespectful. In fact, we were probably close to matching Manchester United, certainly when I think of maybe ’96, that year we were brilliant.

“We possibly were better than Man United. We were probably inconsistent against so-called weaker teams, Manchester United used to beat them whereas we maybe struggled to win those games.”

Fowler netted a whopping 183 goals in 369 appearances during two stints at Anfield and is hailed as one of the finest products of the club’s academy. He also gained notoriety as part of a Liverpool group dubbed “The Spice Boys.”

Fowler’s off-field antics, along with those of Jamie Redknapp and Steve McManaman, were a constant source of media speculation. Reflecting on their image, Fowler added: “I know people can bring whatever they want into that, again it’s that conversation with ‘The Spice Boys’, you never took it seriously.

“But I think it’s disrespectful to the players because I played with great players as well…you are like a product of your environment. I know Manchester United, their environment was maybe changing in terms of the players looking after themselves a little bit better, but they still went out. We know that because we used to bump into them.”

Of his national team outings, 16 were in friendlies, while just three featured in either the European Championship or the World Cup. Back then, Fowler was up against the likes of Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Teddy Sheringham, Les Ferdinand and others for an England spot. He only managed to score seven times while wearing a Three Lions shirt.

Meanwhile, Neville made 85 international appearances for the Three Lions. He also retired from football having won eight Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, four FA Cups, plus plenty more during his time at Old Trafford.

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