Gary Neville pulled no punches in his brutal assessment of Manchester United following a disappointing defeat to Everton at Old Trafford on Monday night
Gary Neville on Sky Sports
Gary Neville has taken no prisoners following Manchester United's defeat to Everton
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Gary Neville has slammed Luke Shaw and branded him 'a waste of time' in a furious rant after Manchester United's woeful 1-0 defeat to Everton. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fired 10-man Toffees to an unlikely victory at Old Trafford on Monday night, ending the Reds' unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Despite having the numerical advantage for nearly 80 minutes following Idrissa Gueye's red card for slapping his own team-mate, United could not break down Everton's resolute backline.
Shortly before the hour mark, Ruben Amorim made some changes to try and shift the course of the match, with Patrick Dorgu going off for Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo replacing Casemiro. The United boss, however, persisted with his five-at-the-back system, leaving Neville infuriated by the decision, with the Sky Sports commentator describing it as 'embarrassing'.
He also took aim at Shaw for 'ambling' as United pushed for an equaliser. Speaking on Sky Sports from the gantry, the Reds legend fumed: "You have to have urgency and make the pitch as big as possible, and you have to put as many players as possible in forward areas.
"You have Shaw,[Leny] Yoro and [Matthijs] De Ligt behind the ball. Shaw is getting forward more, but he's ambling forward, let's be clear. He's been bugging me for the last 20 minutes. He's ambling, you can't do that.
"He should be running forward every single time, I don't care. Yoro, I have a little bit more sympathy for but Shaw? That's a waste of time. I don't care. It's a waste of time. It's not conning anybody. I'm not having it."
United enjoyed the lion's share of possession for much of the match, but they lacked guile in the final third. Neville grew increasingly frustrated as the second half progressed, as the Reds struggled to break down David Moyes' side.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall celebrates his goal against Manchester United
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The United legend claimed that Shaw should not have been deployed centrally, and Amorim should've brought on attacking reinforcements. Neville continued: "Ruben Amorim has a question to answer.
"Bringing Dalot on over there in front of Shaw? I don't quite see it. You have five at the back, why? They still don't win the first ball or the second ball. Embarrassing.
"This should be like the Alamo. Really quick, high-tempo passing side-to-side, getting into good wide areas, putting crosses in, getting bodies in attack, sustaining attacks. It's very slow from United. There is no presence in the box whatsoever."
After the game, Neville reflected on his criticism of United. Speaking on his podcast, the Reds legend claimed his former side were 'complacent', and the result will 'erode trust' in the dressing room.
"It just smelt of complacency," said Neville. "They weren't at it from the beginning. That is a bad one for United. I think they've been a lot better in the last few weeks. That probably takes us back to Brentford away.
Luke Shaw felt the wrath of Neville after United's defeat
Luke Shaw felt the wrath of Neville after United's defeat
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"You can't go from the fight that they showed in certain games to that. It just erodes confidence, it erodes trust. We're trying to build a trust in a manager, we're trying to build a trust in a team.
"The fans booed collectively at the end. It was loud, and rightly so. That was a really poor performance. It's almost as if you've gone sort of like two or three steps forward, everyone's feeling a little bit better about themselves, and you've just gone back to the start again.
"You can lose football matches, but you can't lose them like that. That's nowhere near good enough, it's not acceptable."
Meanwhile, Everton star Gueye has broken his silence about his red card and issued an apology to his team-mates following the ugly incident with Michael Keane.
"I want to apologise first to my team-mate Michael Keane. I take full responsibility for my reaction. I also apologise to my team-mates, the staff, the fans and the club," he said on his Instagram story.
"What happened does not reflect who I am or the values I stand for. Emotions run high but nothing justifies such behaviour. I'll make sure it never happens again."
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