Man Utd were 'frightened to death' of Man City, insists Neville

Martin Macdonald

• 6 Nov 2021 15:33 GMT
• 3 min read

Gary Neville believes Manchester United looked "frightened to death" of Manchester City during the derby between the rivals in the Premier League on Saturday.

City would eventually win the game 2-0 with both goals coming in the first half via an Eric Bailly own goal and a Bernardo Silva finish after some horrendous defending from Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and David de Gea.

But, the scoreline does not tell the full story as Man Utd did not lay a glove on City, with Pep Guardiola's side treating the last 30 minutes of the match almost like a low key training exercise.

City popped the ball around confidently, while United offered nothing.

Should certain teams below them win this weekend, Man Utd could drop to as low as ninth before the international break.

In Man Utd's last home match in the Premier League, they were destroyed 5-0 by Liverpool in what is recognised as one of the worst results in the history of the club in the top flight.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer earned a slight reprieve with a win versus Tottenham after that, though his team would stumble again, having to rely on a late equaliser just to draw against Atalanta in the Champions League.

Against another quality side in Man City, the home side were completely outclassed in every department.

Following the Manchester derby, Neville would describe the result as a "mauling" for Man Utd.

What did Neville say?

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said:

"I feared before the game that there was this feeling Man Utd had to sit deep and play on the counter, and that they would forget that they had to have some guts in possession and guts out of possession.

"They looked frightened to death. They looked frightened to death in possession. They looked frightened to death out of possession.

"They were crumpled up into a little ball in a corner, waiting to be beat.

"That's not good enough.

"You can get into your shape, but then you can be aggressive in your shape.

"A Manchester United player has to show guts and courage on the pitch.

"They are flaky when it comes to big games. They were fearing today what might happen before the game.

"They got destroyed today, Manchester United, that was a mauling.

"The individual errors are a massive problem.

"On the ball, they are not showing the courage to play.

"Ole's under massive pressure, but he needs a team out there with courage."