Man Utd legend Gary Neville hopes that the display from the Red Devils’ defence in their 7-0 loss to Liverpool is something he never has to “see again”
Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah helped themselves to a brace each with Roberto Firmino getting the final goal in an explosive second half in which Liverpool scored six of their goals.
The first half was fairly even with a Gakpo goal before half-time putting Jurgen Klopp’s men in front – but Man Utd crumbled in the second with Erik ten Hag’s men all over the place defensively.
And Neville pulled no punches in his assessment of their performance with the whole Man Utd backline and, in particular Luke Shaw, coming in for criticism.
Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: “That in the second half was an absolute disgrace.
“Start with the captain, because you’re the captain of the football club, I thought Bruno [Fernandes] out there in the second half, he can wind you up sometimes anyway the way he is, but that was appalling in the second half.
“The rest of them, to be fair, didn’t show up. Luke Shaw has played the worst game I’ve seen in a long, long time and I think he’s been brilliant this season. The whole back four were a disgrace.
“It’s got to be a one off. That’s it. It’s got to be a one off because that can’t become the norm. That’s got to be something that’s just put down as something that we never see again.”
Graeme Souness and Man Utd legend Neville got into a heated debate in the aftermath of the Red Devils’ heavy loss at Anfield and the former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder reckons the Man Utd players have to learn to deal with “publicity and attention” better.
“Some of the Manchester United players have to look at themselves today,” Souness told Sky Sports.
“When I played at Liverpool, we always felt that if Man United did anything they got far more publicity than they were due. It must be an issue playing at Man United.”
He continued: “In Germany, Bayern Munich are known as FC Hollywood. Man United are the equivalent in England.
“Playing for Man United that same thing applies. You get a lot of publicity and attention, far more than at any other football club.
“You have to have strong senior characters in the dressing room to control that kind of behaviour where lesser lights can get carried away.
“That’s the price of a ticket at Man United. It’s difficult being a top player at any top club given the media scrutiny but at United it is on another level, and those players will have to deal with it.”
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