Gary Neville criticises ‘absolutely disgusting’ Man Utd display against Spurs

Sep 29, 2024 2 min read
Sky Sports commentator and former Manchester United player Gary Neville hit out at his old team’s performance (Mike Egerton/
Sky Sports commentator and former Manchester United player Gary Neville hit out at his old team’s performance (Mike Egerton/PA)

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville laid into his old side for “an absolutely disgusting performance” after a 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Old Trafford.

Brennan Johnson had fired Spurs into an early lead after only three minutes, before United captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card just ahead of half-time after a sliding challenge on James Maddison.

Spurs doubled their lead soon after the restart through Dejan Kulusevski, before Dominic Solanke ended any hopes of a United comeback when he scored a third with 13 minutes left.

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes walks off after being shown a red card against Tottenham at Old Trafford
Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card just before half-time (Martin Rickett/PA)

Neville said on Sky Sports: “It was an absolutely disgusting performance in that first half in effort, quality, everything you would want in a football team.

“There will be a lot of questions to answer for that group (of players) and the manager in the next week.

“I’ve been here at Man United enough over the past 10 to 12 years to know that a game and a result like this needs reversing rather quickly.

“The snowball starts to roll down that hill and it gathers apace. Erik ten Hag has got to stop it at source right now because this is a shocking day, a sobering day.

“I said just before the game that there can be no excuses. A mountain of cash has been spent and invested. The first half was absolutely woeful, as bad as it gets.”

“The pressure is going to get ramped up this week – it is going to be brutal. It has been a bad day for Ten Hag, really bad.

“It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag – and that is saying something. It is really bad.”

Former Manchester United full-back Ashley Young – who won five trophies at Old Trafford, including the Premier League in 2013 – felt his old team “didn’t give anything”.

Young said on Sky Sports: “There was no effort, no work-rate. No-one was running. There were no leaders out there.

“Everything seemed disjointed. It seemed like there were individuals all over the pitch. No-one wanted to take the ball or to create anything.

“It was bad from start to finish for Man United. Tottenham were so comfortable. Man United did nothing.”

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