Gary Neville Lashes Out at Manchester United Players As Red Devils Escape Shock Defeat Against Newcastle, Slams Cristiano Ronaldo for Body Language
Ralf Rangnick's side scraped through with a point at St James Park as an Edinson Cavani strike helped them avoid a defeat to Newcastle, who took an early lead in the game. They’re a bunch of whinge bags. Watch them on that pitch. Arms in the air, complaining about everything," Neville said.
Manchester United managed to leave St James Park with barely one point in their Premier League 2021-22 clash against Newcastle United on Tuesday and former player Gary Neville was definitely not an impressed man after this result. The Red Devils had an opportunity to beat Newcastle and push their case for a spot in the top four but that seemed a distant prospect from their performance. It was Edinson Cavani who came to United's rescue as his strike helped Ralf Rangnick's side cancel out Allan Saint-Maximin's early goal. Cristiano Ronaldo Crowned ‘Top Goalscorer of All Time’ at Globe Soccer Awards 2021, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski Grab Honours (See List of Winners)
"There's no pressing, there's no urgency," Neville said, as quoted by Sky Sports. "The basics of the game, every single battle, they've lost. That's been a really poor performance. There's not one single thing that's gone right as a team. There's not one single player who can go in at half-time and say that they've done their jobs, or even done themselves justice." Manchester United's main man Cristiano Ronaldo too failed to perform and win his side the game and instead, the Portuguese star was seen expressing frustration towards his teammates. As a matter of fact, United would have ended up suffering a shock defeat had it not been David de Gea, who pulled off some really good saves to help his side cling to a point.
Neville was not done yet. He further expressed his disappointment for the performance and said, "They’re a bunch of whinge bags. Watch them on that pitch. Arms in the air, complaining about everything. They got the last manager the sack [and] they’ll get a lot of managers the sack, that lot, if they carry on like that." He also had harsh words for Ronaldo. "We talk about body language. We talked about it early in the season when Ronaldo ran off at the end of the Everton game. He's run off again tonight. He ran off at Watford when everyone knew the manager was going to get the sack. And at Norwich."
"There's [Bruno] Fernandes whinging, too. They're the two senior players. It's devastating for younger players when the two best players are looking at every other player like they're not good enough," he added.
This result leaves Manchester United seventh on the Premier League 2021-22 points table and it further increases their gap with fourth-placed Arsenal, who have 35 points as compared to their 28. United have played two less games nonetheless and Rangnick would expect his team to make up that difference in the coming matches.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2021 04:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).