Gary Neville tears into Ten Hag over ‘reckless’ Man Utd decision after ‘appalling’ display against Man City
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville
Former Manchester United star Gary Neville has criticised Erik ten Hag for his decision to replace Sofyan Amrabat with Mason Mount, as the Red Devils endured another embarrassing defeat against rivals Manchester City.
Last season, City striker Erling Haaland bagged a hat-trick as Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed Man Utd 6-3 at the Etihad. And Haaland was close to repeating that achievement, as he netted a brace during City’s comfortable 3-0 win over Man Utd at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Man Utd were unlucky to go behind in the 26th minute, as Haaland scored a spot-kick after a harsh penalty was given against Rasmus Hojlund for a foul on Rodri. Andre Onana then pulled off a brilliant save to deny Haaland heading home a second.
However, in an almost identical situation after the interval, Haaland did finish past Onana to register his 13th goal of the campaign. The Norwegian could have had an effort on goal when reacting first to an Onana save in the 80th minute, but he instead set up Phil Foden for an easy tap-in as City made it 3-0.
Many Man Utd fans left before the final whistle as City dominated possession and gave the home side few opportunities to score. McTominay did force Ederson into a top reaction save, while Marcus Rashford dragged a great chance wide. But overall this was a lifeless performance that will ramp up the pressure on Ten Hag.
At half time, the manager opted to take Amrabat – who had picked up a yellow card – off and replace him with Mount. This saw Man Utd play without a recognised defensive midfielder, as Mount operated just behind the striker and McTominay partnered Eriksen in midfield. This in turn left Man Utd stretched whenever City attacked at pace.
READ MORE: Pundit reacts to Ten Hag sack claim as ‘whispers’ around Man Utd boss intensify
When analysing Man Utd’s performance on Sky Sports, Neville labelled this change ‘reckless’ from Ten Hag and stated how he thinks the Dutchman’s substitutions are getting worse.
“When I saw McTominay alongside Eriksen in midfield I thought that was brave, if not a little bit reckless. I didn’t think it would work and I thought Amrabat must’ve been injured, but we’ve just had it confirmed to us that he wasn’t injured,” the pundit said.
Ten Hag ‘made Man Utd worse’, says Gary Neville
“I don’t think it was a great day for his substitutions. I think his substitutions last season were amazing and every time he made them it improved the team’s performance. I thought today the substitutions made the team’s performance worse and opened them up more. I don’t think it was a great day.
“I’m in the camp of, I’ve seen this four or five managers down the line, it’s their second or third season where they really struggle. We end up, rinse repeat, rinse repeat. Exactly the same things happen again.
“No one has been able to unlock Manchester City. The performances of Man Utd against City have not been good. I was at the cup final, sat there with 90,000 other people, the performance wasn’t good. That performance in the second half today was appalling.
“Amrabat coming off emptied the midfield. I don’t think that was the right assessment of that particular performance. But my anger isn’t with Ten Hag, I don’t think he’s the fundamental cause of this problem.”
Neville was not the only Man Utd legend who complained about the team and their performance, as Roy Keane urged Ten Hag to complete a monumental decision over one player.
