Neville blasts Man United's 'shameful' performance, the Gary Neville
Podcast
Well, it's very noisy up here on the he had gantry, Gary, understandably
so. We've just seen, particularly in the second half, Manchester City
demolished Manchester United.
Yes, she was stopped at the end where I get angry as we start at the
beginning. Yeah, look, the first half, it really surprised me, the
Manchester United team, because I thought that they would play Rashford,
Elanga and Sancho and we thought that Cristiano Ronaldo or we heard
Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't playing, but we saw that Manchester United came
out with a sort of system that surprised us all with Fernandes and Pogba
up front and for twenty five minutes for Manchester United played pretty
well. Real good intent. The back four pushed up the pitch. They were close
together. I thought they were brave on the ball and I thought they were
going punch for punch with Manchester City. How long that would last? We
didn't know, but we knew that they didn't have a attack in them with those
two sort of midfield players playing up front. So they maybe had to be a
little bit from four. But, you know, two sloppy goals to give away. But
overall, half time could have even been two to Sancho had a really good
chance just before half time, and at half time I was thinking that
Manchester United are in this game, particularly with the record here over
the last two or three seasons. So you the first half wasn't too bad for
Manchester City. I think it took them twenty five minutes to get going,
although I always thought they posed a problem down that left hand side
Grealish. Bernardo Silva and Foden were always dangerous. I mean, most of
the city's attacks were down that side away from us over there, and they
really were costly.
But they weren't dominating possession city. They were dangerous when they
got the ball, but they weren't getting it as often as you expect here.
Martin, I went down to our director partway through the first half, and I
think it announced in the first couple of minutes that Manchester City
will dominate possession. And at that point in the game, it was 50 to 48
and that was about 15 20 minutes in, which really did sort of give me an
impression that this game was different than I thought it would be. But
the problem for United was down that right on the side with Wan-Bissaka
sort of Lindelof, Elanga, more Wan-Bissaka, really? But you're right.
Manchester City started a little bit slowly. I think United system
Copland's by surprise.
So what changed? Half time came and it was like it was a different game
in the second half. But did you see anything that made that happen or was
it just city increasing the intensity, increasing what they do very well
to do it even better?
Yes, maybe they just got closer to them on the sort of transition when
Manchester United wanted to give it away. Maybe they won the ball back a
little bit quicker off Manchester United, but you just felt like
Manchester City. Just when I say grew in the game, just like almost it
became too much and they were just so much better from the very first
second of that second half. And the ending of the game was something that,
to be fair, was shameful. I don't use that word lightly. Manchester
United's players didn't bother the backsides for the last twenty five
minutes from that goal going in. It was really, really terrible. I've got,
you know, great sympathy in some ways for Manchester United's players at
this moment in time having to play against this Greater Manchester City
team. You know, we had a situation like that towards the end of my career
at Manchester United with Barcelona when they had the Messi, Xavi, Iniesta
and they just kept the ball off you and it was painful to watch. And
there's a little bit of that here, obviously with Manchester City, but
you've still got to have a go. You've still got to put it in. You've got
to do the hard yards. You've got to run to the end. There's about 4000
Manchester United fans over in that far corner and that last twenty five
minutes, I reckon there's probably only about a thousand left at the
end.
Speaker2: I was watching them walk out sort of minute by minute, and I
went from feeling that Manchester United hadn't responded well after the
third goal to thinking this is not good at all. In fact, I was disgusted.
I don't know what the hell happened to them after that third goal. I
couldn't be more harsh and I've been, to be fair, over the last couple of
years thought that I've accepted that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and Pep
Guardiola's Manchester City are exceptional and in a cycle that can
happen. We had it for a small period when I was at the club under Sir Alex
Ferguson with an outstanding Jose Mourinho team and Arsene Wenger
Invincibles for three years where we didn't win the league. I know it's
been longer than that, but when you do get to exceptional teams, you
think, when are we going to win the league again? So I get the fact that
these Manchester United players here are playing against good opposition.
But I never once saw a Manchester United team even in the last under Van
Gaal, and I never saw them give up. They gave up in that last twenty five
minutes.
It was Ralph Hasenhuttl, Hasenhuttl who came with Southampton to Old
Trafford recently. After the game, he said Well, we know Manchester United
don't like running back towards their own goal in a game where he got a
good result there and he actually announced it, which managers don't
normally do. But we did see something of that in the second half, I
guess.
The leaks, the lack of sort of what would be, I think, togetherness and
it comes pretty much hurtling towards you in a game like this because it
will find out whether you've got a spirit and it's OK coming back against,
you know, Brighton or scraping through games against Brighton and
Southampton and Villa and all those teams they played whereby they sort of
they are better players. They've got a 330 million pound budget and
they've spent one point two billion on this lot. So they should have, you
know, if you like enough quality to compete against those teams and stay
in the game, even if they're not playing well. But when you play against a
top team, you'll get pulled apart. And what we saw at the end of that
match was a spiritless Manchester United, and that's the biggest concern.
Those players have got to get that spirit back. They've got to have that
fight back rumours before the game about Cristiano Ronaldo. What's
happened with him today? Rangnick said it was a hip injury, but you know,
we saw it on social media coming through that there was nothing wrong with
him. Rumours that Cavani's said he doesn't want to play even though he's
fit again, not great. So all these things are emerging from the dressing
room, and we don't know how much of them is true. You know, Varane is not
here today. Shaw's not here. All of a sudden, these last minute sort of,
you know, non appearances, if you like, and they add weight to the sort of
what would be an argument that something's not right in that dressing
room, but the biggest evidence that you could see that there's something
not right in that dressing room is their response to the three one, the
three, the third goal that Manchester City scored today in a derby in a
derby Martin look either an appalling game, not here, but at Maine Road
many, many years ago, where I gave the ball away against Shaun
Goater.
And it was it was a horrible day for the. I know full well that me and
the rest of the players on the pitch that had a horrible day and I made
that mistake that day and it was a shambolic mistake. The effort was still
the spirit was still the sort of going to the end was still there. It was
just a bad day for us and I made a bad mistake, which contributed to that
enormously. Today amongst United players have made mistakes, which is
fine. That can happen. They've also conceded a couple of great goals and
the play against a fantastic group of players. But they have thrown the
towel in in the last twenty five minutes. And if they watch that back,
they've walked around that pitch. They've not got a jog on ninety two
percent possession. I mean, I know that City keep 70 percent, 75 percent
possession against teams regularly. Ninety two percent, not just over five
minutes, over 15 minutes. And you try to chase a game in the derby. That
is, you wouldn't want that on your CV. But those Manchester United players
who were out there have got it on their CV, and that is something that's
really, really bad. It's really bad.
Well, let's talk about City and two players. I want to talk about
Jack Grealish, who perhaps we turned up here today not necessarily
expecting to see him start. He played the whole game the other night,
but got a goal and he's back in the groove. He's come back from injury.
How is he fitting into the world? That's very different to the Villa
team that he played in, but obviously he showed sublime skills that got
him the move.
Yeah. Well, look, sometimes there's there's two things. One, when a
player comes from a club that the expectation aren't that high and the
standards aren't as high. It shocks them. And they have to sort of, if you
like, come through that shock of thinking that, you know, I'm going to
come here £100million, I'm going to be able to sort of, you know, get the
ball all the time. We keep 75 percent possession. I'm aware of assists and
goals. I scored loads of goals and got loads of that village. I'm bound to
get them here. And all of a sudden, it doesn't just quite happen like
that. And there's a little bit of that with Jack. I think there's a little
bit of with Pep Guardiola getting used to Pep Guardiola's system, and
we've seen many players come here and thrive in the second season when
they've got used to that sort of 12 months of bedding in. And I made a
point and I don't know whether you agree with me that when I've seen the
ball arrive at Jack's feet where I see Jack, the best is when he received
the ball at his feet and then he drives directly up people with intent.
And he looks like he's running at sort of real speed where he can sort of
wrong foot them and go both ways. That's the problem I would have as a
right back playing against Jack Grealish. I thought there have been times
where he just stood on the ball, given that roll over one where he's not
moving yet and he's looking good and he's sort of thinking that the right
back sort of going going to come and confront him, but he's not really
doing it. Then he ends up passing it back to Cancelo or wherever is left
back, imagining that something's going to happen for him without having to
put the hard yards in. I think today the penny dropped in some ways and
maybe the fact he's been left out for six weeks. I think you said he was
the first time he's played in the Premier League. Yeah, he's had
A bit of a shin injury, which is something that's not the first time he's
had that. So they've been careful with it.
Yeah, but I think today it felt to me like you look more athletic. He
looked like he had a better, you know, more positive and direct in his
play, understanding it was a big game. And this game doesn't sort of, if
you like, welcome passengers, you can't sort of float around in these
games thinking, you're a good player, you have to go and perform and he's
got someone up there alongside him in Phil Foden, who's tenacious, he's
aggressive. He sprints, he fights for every ball. And Jack just need that
little bit of that in his games. Then I thought he had it from minute one.
I thought he was really positive. I thought that he caused one Wan-Bissaka
down that side. Massive problems with Foden and Bernardo Silva means got
great players around him as well, but this could be the day where he's
sort of what would be. People see his form changing. People see the sort
of, if you like the Jack Grealish that was meant to be signing for City
because we didn't expect him to play, I expected to see Raheem Sterling on
that left hand side. And when we saw Jack Grealish at Rajkot, this is Pep
sort of giving him his head, saying, Go on your own kid. And I think he's
delivered today. I think he performed really well.
And Raheem Sterling can't get on the right either, because Riyad Mahrez
and we shouldn't be so surprised because, of course, at Leicester, he and
Jamie Vardy. Yeah. Obviously, history, we look at the detail. It's not
quite as simple as that, but they led the way for Leicester to win the
league against all the odds. Yeah. And Mahrez came here and he's had his
moments and a lot of good moments, and he's been there a while now, but
he's suddenly somehow seems to have found that little bit of I talked
about the joy that he plays with, and the left foot is,
Yeah, something. He plays the position beautifully in terms of when to be
wide, when to move and when to hold his position. He's always composed,
and I think he plays the position better than anybody that I see at the
moment in world football in terms of just how to play that position. And
then he also has got this incredible thing for a winger, which wingers
don't have his consistency over the rest of the players in the team know
exactly what. In fact, we know what he's going to do with every time he
gets it. Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier to mark. If you're a
player like tell us to sorry, tell esterday you think, well, he wants to
go back in his left foot, but he's also got that one where he can go
outside you if you show him too much. And it's a real conundrum. He's
performing at such a high level in a team that's performing at a high
level. He gets the ball. He receives the ball in good areas with the right
weight in front of him from De Broner and Silver and the other midfield
players. So he's a joy in that sense, but he's performing at. I say it's
rare to get consistency from a winger. It's rare to get high level
performances week in, week out, season in, season out.
He knows the position very well. He looks like he's very much the sort
of what would be peak of his career. You know, Manchester City have got
him now right at the peak of his career where he's. Know he's producing
his best football, and he's no longer the sort of, if you like the
surprise package that he was at Leicester, where he kept cutting that
left foot and just whipping it into that far corner. He's having to work
a lot harder at Manchester City because the players, people are doubling
up on him and they're stopping him coming in that easy. So he's having
to do a lot of people might say, Oh, it's easy for him here because he's
playing in sort of a team that's better. There are parts of it that are
but also there are parts of it that aren't because he's getting marks a
lot closer. He's getting a lot less space. He's got people around him,
two and three people around him, rather than maybe one in that first
season at Leicester. So for me, brilliant player. But they all are
Martin. They all are. They all are. And I was watching Diaz last night
for Liverpool, another one and just to come off the bench and money, and
they're all fantastic. These players for these, these two clubs.
But Gary, every round of matches is a new story and this weekend story
is that Manchester City have romped the derby and Liverpool scraped it
and pretty lucky to get the three points against West Ham, but both have
got three points.
They've both got three points. We've definitely got a title race,
irrespective of whether both got three points. City will come off air to
they fly and they'll be absolutely buzzing with what they've done here
today. But we have still got a title race because Liverpool are
dangerous. Liverpool have got, I think, the better from players in their
squad and in the team. I really believe that, you know, look at Mane,
Salah, Firmino, Jota, Diaz, Origi. I think six players there that really
are a massive threat, three or four of them out at this World Cup of
them world class. And that makes them a real threat towards the end of
the season. And Liverpool have won the trophy. Last week we saw that at
Wembley, they've got the bit between the teeth and you saw Jurgen Klopp
celebration after that game against West Ham that was telling. You know,
I was telling Sir Alex Ferguson used to do that, sometimes almost always
celebrate when it was a one nil because he knew how big it was. You
know, I don't think you can sort of say, Oh, Liverpool struggle to beat
West Ham at home, but city of battered United Liverpool could battle
United in a few weeks time when they play them as well. We've seen City
struggle here against Tottenham and obviously lose the game, so there's
a long way to go. But we've got brilliant two brilliant teams. We have
got a title race and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. I
think there's a long way to go and I don't think it's Pep Guardiola's do
an interview here on our screens next to us. I don't think it's
something that's cut and dried.
I have to ask you about the third place team now in political issues
with the ownership as well. How do you read that?
Well done to Thomas Tuchel. Well done to Thomas Tuchel. I do think that
managers that there are those that say that, you know, it shouldn't be
him answering the questions. But I do believe that managers now and
players, we have to they have to sort of face up to the societal,
political and obviously these issues, these crises that are happening at
the moment away from the pitch. And he stood up really well during the
week. I think, you know, he obviously said that he didn't want to answer
questions any more, but he had answered those questions for seven
minutes and he'd done it very well. And I think yesterday to say what he
said was brave to say, you know, to take on your own fans, which he did
in a very sort of what would be measured way, fatherly way. Yeah, it was
right. Look, that's not right. We don't do that. And I think again, that
was a good play from him because I think he gains authority not just
with fans of his own club, because I think they'll think, well, he's got
something about him. But he also, I think, will gain some sort of
certainly some credibility if he has got credibility, but some more
credibility and substance with everybody in football because it's not an
easy position for him to be in at the moment its moment in time, but
he's handling it particularly well, I think.
Well, they're still in Europe, they're still in the FA Cup and
obviously probably Liverpool and Manchester City are over the hill as
far as the league concerned. But what what effect do you imagine it
might have? Because whatever we think about the reasons for this
happening, it's happening and it doesn't look as though there's going to
be a quick fix.
No, they've got a very experienced dressing room, though, a very
experienced dressing room and an experienced manager. I do think that,
you know, this is unprecedented. But I do think that they're handling it
well. I do think that they are experienced enough to know that they
don't want this. There's nothing to do with them. The players, the
players on the pitch, the manager in the dugout. We know it's not them.
If anything, they'll be absolutely against it as much as everybody else
is in this country and most of the world. So I think that my view on it
would be that because of that, they'll they'll they'll compete, they'll
continue to sort of be professional, they'll be respectful and
understand the position that they're in. As a club with obviously their
owner and his alleged association and the fact that he's selling the
club so that it's not going to go away this for them, but I do believe
they are experienced enough to be able to handle it. And they've got a
good bunch of players who've had success in the last 12 months with the
World Club Championship. And obviously the Champions League. So I think
that they're in a good place and I actually thought they were very
unlucky not to win that League Cup final last weekend. I mean, the
chances that they had in that game were incredible and they'll not
believe that they haven't won it. So, you know, I don't think it was a
performance thing last weekend against Liverpool. They still turned up
and really did well in that game.
We can't leave without talking about Arsenal. I
don't know how much you saw of it. I watched a fair bit of it today, a
mixture of excellence and vulnerability thrown in as well.
But they are now in fourth position. They've got some games in hand.
We've got a couple of big games coming up at the Emirates where they
play Leicester and they play Liverpool Live on Sky Sports. Somehow
they've sort of crept in, haven't they really
Crept in but also playing very good football? Um, questions being asked
about Arteta questions being asked about Arsenal at the part by us and
by also Arsenal fans. But they've got a very good first 11, 12, 13
players, and obviously they are finely tuned, if Lacazette was to get
injured, then they'd have problems. They wouldn't have too much behind
it, but they have put themselves into a great position and it would be a
fantastic season for Mikel Arteta for him to get top four. It really
would, and that wouldn't have been expected by any of us. So, you know,
in Konta came into Tottenham, no one was thinking Arteta fourth. When
Manchester United spend the money they spend at the start of the season,
always thinking Arteta and Arsenal fourth and they've got it to do. I
don't rule out that they'll have obstacles in the way and they'll
stutter and they'll hesitate and they'll have difficult moments, but
they are in a great position. Manchester United have got difficult games
to come in the next few weeks and there could be really if Arsenal can
win the next two or three games, they could be in a fantastic position
to really go home and sort of, like they say, achieve what I think would
be a really good season for them.
You'd empathise. They have backing youth as you were backed at the start
of your career.
Yeah, but good youth, I mean, obviously, he's got players there that I
think I think you'll remember the game. Was it two years ago against
Chelsea when there was a few players missing through various reasons and
he brought in Saka? Oh, Martinelli and Smith Rowe? Yeah, Smith Rowe. He
brought those three in that day and we thought, Well, this could be this
could be difficult and they were sensational. And I think from that
moment, Mikel Arteta has recognised that that's the way forward for the
club that he wants players he can work with that can grow with him, that
he can mould, that will have that fighting spirit. And he made a big, big
call with Aubameyang going over to Barcelona, sending him out at the club.
But it's a battle that managers, if they're going to establish themselves
and get gain control, have to win and the club have to back them. And the
manager has been backed by the Arsenal board and this moment in time, it's
paying off quite a few games to go. And we'll see how it goes at the end
of the season. But at this moment in time, Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are in
a good place.
I think we all are as football lovers
with the Premier League and the way it's gone and where we are at this
particular moment in time into March now. Yeah, and there's a lot that can
still happen. Gary, it's a pleasure been sharing today with you.
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