Sky Sports' Gary Neville on Man Utd's display in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool: "You can't really coach that type of performance. You are just relying on individual moments, luck, goalkeepers making saves and defenders making blocks"
Monday 8 April 2024 12:03, UK
Gary Neville has bemoaned Manchester United's "schoolboy" playing style and described them as the worst team in the Premier League out of possession.
The Sky Sports pundit was speaking after their wild 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford, where stunning goals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo clinched an unlikely point.
Liverpool missed a succession of chances, with Manchester United giving up a total of 28 shots on their goal - their highest number on record in a Premier League home game.
The chaotic performance came just days after they lost 4-3 to Chelsea in similar circumstances at Stamford Bridge and left co-commentator Neville stunned.
"Manchester United's style of play is mad," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast. "Some of the things you see out there, you wouldn't see at schoolboy level.
"Their structure defensively goes from being in shape and being okay to all of a sudden emptying the whole midfield. Players press on their own without the rest of their team-mates going with them.
"You have players in front of the ball at throw-ins and the ball gets thrown in behind towards the back four.
"All of the things that you see as, if you like, the easiest things in football to do, Manchester United do really badly.
"They are so easy to play against. Liverpool had 15 shots in that first half.
"You can't really coach that type of performance. You are just relying on individual moments, luck, goalkeepers making saves and defenders making blocks. That's what we've seen from them against Liverpool.
"I don't think it is any lack of endeavour. There is no lack of desire in the team. There's just no sense to their actual performance levels."
Erik ten Hag told Sky Sports after the game that he was "proud" of how his players responded following a one-sided first half but Neville felt the performance left more questions than answers when it comes to the manager's future at the club.
"When [part-owner] Sir Jim Ratcliffe came in, we said it was like an audition until the end of the season for Ten Hag and what he needs is to build a style, a system and a pattern of play," he said.
"We don't see a pattern.
"Most United fans, including myself, back Ten Hag and want him to succeed.
"But think about the performances this week. At Brentford, you can never accept that. That is a low in terms of all standards. That is where you are questioning desire, work ethic and the parts of the game where you are thinking has the manager lost the dressing room.
"Jamie Redknapp said it. That is the type of performance that can get a manager sacked.
"I actually don't think we've seen that same type of performance against Chelsea and Liverpool. Brentford was by far the worst performance of the week in terms of energy and spirit.
"At Chelsea, you lose in the last minute. It's embarrassing and bad to lose two goals late on but actually, you can lose a game of football that way.
"Against Liverpool, the same bad habits, the same bad structure, the same defensive errors and the same gaps in midfield. They were all there, but there is still a level of effort and desire.
"It is baffling, some of the things you see.
"There are parts of the team where you do wonder what is going on in the coaching aspect during the week and what Ten Hag's instruction is.
"I can't believe Casemiro or Bruno Fernandes or Kobbie Mainoo are doing this off their own back. They must be being told to do it.
"But then, to be told to do it and watch it, it's strange. It's very, very strange to see.
"No other team in the league plays as badly out of possession as they do. That's why they concede so many shots, and over 20 against Liverpool. That has got to stop and stop quickly.
"It's difficult to defend, it really is. It's been a strange week of football from Manchester United.
"If you try to analyse that week of football doing your coaching badges, or as a coach or a player or as a fan, you can't even put it together. It's odd.
"They are such an odd team to watch. I don't really know what else to say other than that. It's fun at times, entertaining, but mad."
Jamie Carragher, also on co-commentary duty at Old Trafford, added: "It's obviously not gone great for Manchester United this season, but when we talk about a manager, we always say he needs results. That's the same for every manager.
"I actually think, with Erik ten Hag, that he needs performances to give Manchester United some belief going forward.
"I think you can accept the results this season in terms of them having injury problems. You can also talk about the ownership and other things. You can give some sort of reason as to why it hasn't gone as well as people thought.
"But when you are watching your team, you've got to feel like you are seeing something and where it might be going, even if you are losing a game.
"That is the thing I would worry about as a Manchester United fan. I don't quite see where it is going. What is the end result?
"If it is what we saw against Liverpool, I don't think it can go up against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal over the next couple of years."
Carragher was similarly bewildered about United's defensive openness, insisting it should not be difficult to remedy from a coaching perspective.
"I've never been a manager, but it is easy to stop," he said. "The basic principles of being tough to play against, I don't think they are hard to coach.
"We've both been on the training pitch, keeping the team compact, narrow, back four, where's our starting position. Are we high? Are we deep? Are we together?
"It's basic. It's the basics of football.
"It's not about a fluid Pep Guardiola football or Jurgen Klopp football, it's just about being difficult to beat. It's something you would normally associate with a team coming up into the division.
"That's the really strange thing for Manchester United going forward. Everyone will be delighted leaving the game today because it was a great game and they help knock Liverpool off the top of the league.
"But the bigger picture, of how the game started and how it finished, still leaves you scratching your head."
