GARY NEVILLE slammed Manchester United for “looking frightened to death” during their 2-0 defeat to local rivals Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions swatted the Red Devils aside as an Eric Bailly own goal and a second from Bernardo Silva handed the visitors a comfortable victory.
And Neville did not pull any punches in his assessment of United’s horror display.
He told Sky Sports: “I feared before the game that there was this feeling that Manchester United have to sit deep, that they would have to play on the counter-attack and they would forget that they have to have some guts in possession and some guts out of possession.
“That means they have to flip and get the balance right. I showed the two clips before the game about how they sometimes have to press to make sure they at least punch Manchester City.
“They looked frightened to death in possession. They looked frightened to death out of possession, almost as if they were crumpled up in a little ball in a corner waiting to be beat. And that is not good enough.
“You can get into your shape but then you can be aggressive from your shape. They weren’t aggressive, they were passive.”
He added: “A Manchester United player has to show guts and courage on the pitch. You can get beat, I played for a long time at this club and you can lose football matches. But they are flaky when it comes to big games.
“They were fearing today what might happen before the game. I can only come to that conclusion because of the way in which they approached the first 10 or 15 minutes where they’re not getting on the ball, they’re stiff, they’re rash, they’re lacking composure, they’re anxious.
“And then it’s transferring through the whole stadium and you’re up here in the gantry and you’re hearing the fans groans and it keeps going and going.
“You’re playing against an ice cold, unemotional, brutal football team in Manchester City. And they got destroyed today, Manchester United. Make no mistake about it, that was a mauling.”
United slipped to six points behind Man City following the defeat and now appear to be in a battle for the top four.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have won just five of their opening 11 Prem games and not picked up a home league victory since September.
Defeats to Aston Villa, Liverpool and Man City have left the United crowd thoroughly unhappy with their team as they booed them off on Saturday.
The players now head off on an international break before Solskjaer looks to regroup for the trip to Watford on November 20.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
