It’s certainly hard to argue with him
Gary Neville believes that Manchester United’s players are ‘flakey’ when it comes to big games.
United suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, with an own-goal from Eric Bailly and a Bernardo Silva strike ensuring that the Citizens went home with all three points.
The loss means that the Red Devils have now lost four of their last five Premier League fixtures, with pressure increasing on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer by the day.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, former United defender Neville stated that Man Utd’s players are ‘flakey’ when it comes to ‘big games’
“I feared before the game that there was this feeling that Manchester United have to sit deep, that they have to play on the counter-attack and that they would forget that they would have to have some guts in possession, and some guts out of possession,” he said.
“They looked frightened to death, they looked frightened to death in possession and frightened to death out of possession, almost they like they were just crumpled up in a little ball in a corner waiting to be beat and that’s not good enough.
“They weren’t aggressive, they were passive and a Manchester United player has to show guts and courage on the pitch, you can get beat but they are flakey when it comes to big games.”
🗣 "They looked frightened to death… crumpled up in a little ball in the corner waiting to be beat"@GNev2 explains what went wrong for #MUFC as they lost to rivals #MCFC at Old Trafford. pic.twitter.com/FNoOwuXfBv
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2021
The Sky Sports pundit also admitted that Solskjaer’s men were ‘destroyed’ by their rivals, arguing that they lacked composure throughout the tie.
He added: “They were fearing today what might happen before the game, I can only come to that conclusion because of the way they approached the first 15 minutes where they weren’t getting on the ball, they were stiff, rash, they’re lacking composure and they’re anxious.
“It’s then transferring through the stadium and you’re hearing the fans’ groans and it just keeps going and going, and you’re playing against an ice-cold, unemotional, brutal football team in Manchester City.
“They got destroyed today, make no mistake about it, that was a mauling that.”
The Red Devils are next in action after the international break when they travel to Watford on November 20.
Related links:
- Roy Keane loses it as Micah Richards suggests van de Beek needs a chance
- Rio Ferdinand’s tweets reflect the four stages of every United fan watching the Manchester derby
- Micah Richards and Graeme Souness disagree over Man City second goal in heated argument
