Gary Neville has not been impressed by Manchester United in the opening half-hour as he has compared them to ‘statues’.
In the biggest game this weekend, Tottenham Hotspur travelled to Old Trafford in search of a statement win after a rocky start to their new Premier League campaign.
With both clubs sitting mid-table and with five games played already, this tie is considered a must-win for both sides if they want to keep pace with the top four who are already lengthening their stride.
Despite playing at Old Trafford it was Tottenham Hotspur who immediately imposed themselves on the game, applying serious pressure as Manchester United took a step back.
The Red Devils were made to pay for their hesitancy when Mickey van de Ven seized on a poor touch from Marcus Rashford before sprinting the length of the pitch and putting the ball on a plate for Brennan Johnson to open the scoring.
But even after going behind, Ten Hag still decided to deploy his player in a low block and not press the Spurs players with Neville referring to them as ‘statues’ while on commentary for Sky Sports.
Gary Neville highlights ‘awful’ United performance
The former Manchester United defender did not hold back with his criticism of his old side, slamming them for their performance after just 30 minutes and pointing out that even Ten Hag is in disbelief.
“He can’t believe what he’s watching. I can’t believe what I’m watching. It’s awful.” He said on commentary for Sky Sports, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
The Dutch manager’s tactics have clearly not worked with Neville pointing out that they lack a trigger for a press in midfield, which has allowed the visitors to completely dominate the game so far.
“I can’t see a pattern of when they go and yet they don’t put pressure on the ball when the ball goes into midfield, either.”
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