Gary Neville gave his first response to Marcus Rashford's comments about Manchester United's decline over the last decade with a brutal put-down. Rashford has found himself increasingly alienated from his boyhood club since Ruben Amorim arrived at Old Trafford, which has seen him forced to embark on loan spells to Aston Villa and Barcelona.
In an appearance on The Rest is Football podcast, the winger was quoted as saying that United were "in no man’s land," having failed to stick with projects over the years — with the Englishman having played under seven different managers during his time at the club. However, Neville wasn't having any of Rashford’s critique, insinuating that the forward had lost his right to comment.
Neville Slams Rashford on MNF
Gary Neville
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football coverage of Leeds' victory over Everton, Neville and co-host Jamie Carragher gave their early predictions for the new season, with Neville perhaps swept up by United's impressive performance in defeat to Arsenal as he placed them in his top four.
Neville would later be asked if Ruben Amorim had a free hit this season at Old Trafford, something the former defender refuted if the club were down in the bottom half of the table again. Presenter Dave Jones then made reference to Rashford's comments about the club constantly sacking managers and not sticking with projects, but Neville was having none of it.
In response, Neville stated:
"Let's ignore that, because I don't want to go into Marcus Rashford comments tonight. He was there at the club for 10 years and had his opportunity to impact the club. Ruben Amorim, this year, I think will do a good job. Marcus should concentrate on Barcelona."
Neville would go on to further reflect on how the Red Devils looked against the Gunners in their opening contest of the new campaign, saying: "Yesterday was the first time I watched that formation out on Old Trafford, where I thought, 'Right, we've got a chance here, that worked.'
"He'd brought in a few different players, he'd got [Mason] Mount back, introduced Luke Shaw at left centre-back, that helped and I think it was the first time, it's a difficult, rare system, it needs specialists, but when you saw [Matheus] Cunha play, saw Mount play, saw Shaw at left centre-back – there was a balance! Casemiro looked a better player all of a sudden! Just straight away he looked a better player."