Former Manchester United captain-turned-pundit Gary Neville, on commentary duty for Sky Sports, called out Ruben Amorim’s side for their first-half display in north London – and highlighted one deficiency, in particular, that was ‘absolute madness’.
It took just 13 minutes for a struggling Tottenham Hotspur to earn the advantage after James Maddison was first to pounce on Andre Onana’s weak parry. The Englishman’s resultant celebration, believed to be directed at Roy Keane, produced quite a stir.
Stripped to the bare bones through a litany of injuries and illness concerns, the former Sporting CP boss’s hand was forced in terms of his selections and Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro were named as his double pivot ahead of the back three.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Manchester United’s bench against Tottenham had an average age of 19.3.
That’s because the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Toby Collyer and Manuel Ugarte have all picked up mid-week injuries while the seasoned Christian Eriksen was ruled out with an illness, leaving Amorim and his entourage rather shortchanged in the centre of the park.
But the away outfit’s engine room pairing of Fernandes and Casemiro were no match for Tottenham’s constellation of Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison – especially as Amorim’s tactics asked his skipper to drift over to the right.
Fuming at the disorienting nature of Manchester United’s approach, Neville highlighted the gulf between his former side’s midfield duo, labelling it as ‘absolute madness’. Recognised as one of the best right-backs in Premier League history, he said:
We just said about the distance between the two central midfield players. Look at where Casemiro is and where Bruno Fernandes is. That cannot be right. It breaks all rules in football. Look at them – absolute madness, that.
“They may score goals, but the structure of the team is awful,” the 49-year-old commented before adding, “The gaps in that midfield, that’s a tactical thing – they’ve been told to do that. Bruno Fernandes is playing right wing. It’s embarrassing.
Neville then insisted that such a porous gap in the midfield area was similar to what you’d see in an Under-9s or Under-10s game before referencing that Amorim’s instructions for Joshua Zirkzee left Fernandes and Casemiro overly exposed in the middle.
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim vs Leicester
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“You wouldn’t see this in Under-9s or Under-10s football. There’s a reason for it. It’s because of what [Joshua] Zirkzee did against Newcastle, when he kept having to come out to one side. What Amorim’s said is, ‘You stay in there’. But that means then it’s impossible for them two behind… that space in midfield there. It’s shocking.”
Irrespective of their affinity to Neville, plenty of Manchester United fans on X (formerly Twitter) were quick to condemn his comments. One said, “Neville is dying on comms here. If you’d popped down to my under 10’s game today you’d see exactly what you’re saying here.”
Gary Neville – the man who was an embarrassment as a manager at Valencia and put Harry Kane on corners as a coach for England is currently criticising United’s structure as shocking and comparing it to Under-9s. I wish someone unplugs your mic!
“I think Gary Neville is slightly overestimating the tactical discipline of Under 9s.” a second fan said as another produced a not-so subtle dig at his ponderous managerial stint in Spain. They wrote, “Ironic. You’d see them tactics in his football at Valencia.”
