MANCHESTER UNITED legend Gary Neville is ‘demoralised’ after the club’s FA Cup exit and has hit out at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for rotating the team.
The Red Devils crashed out at the quarter-final stage after they were beaten 3-1 by Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring as he latched onto a poor pass from Fred, before Mason Greenwood fired the visitors back on level terms before the break.
Youri Tielemans then put the Foxes back in front with a low strike into the bottom left corner, with Iheanacho grabbing his second of the game with a header in the 78th minute.
Boss Solskjaer made five changes from the side that beat AC Milan 1-0 at the San Siro on Thursday, and Neville cannot understand why rotate for such an important game.
Speaking on his podcast with Sky Sports, he said: “It had been a good week. Not surprising that they go to Milan and did what they did, they are good away from home, then beating West Ham last week.
“I’m surprised the team was weakened against Leicester, I’m surprised he (Solskjaer) rotated as much, I know he has been doing that, but this was a real chance.
“If you think the semi-final draw that occurred at half-time of that game which meant the winner of the Leicester vs Manchester United tie would play Southampton.
“It is not a gimme against Southampton by any stretch of the imagination, but what an opportunity and I genuinely believe that that group of players need to win a trophy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.”
Before adding: “Yes, of course finishing second would be the priority at the start of the season, but winning a trophy with that would be a real priority and now they only have the Europa League left.
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“Leicester have a decent record, but I was in the car listening to it on the radio and they go behind and you think ‘here we go’ and you are not surprised with United.
“But they got back in the game and then you see the second and third ones and you think that could be a massive missed opportunity.
“I am demoralised a little bit as a Manchester United fan as I thought that was a really good one to go for this season.”
Solskjaer claimed after the Leicester defeat that their busy schedule and their trip to Italy played a key part in their FA Cup exit.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
