Manchester United legend Gary Neville has shared his thoughts on Erik ten Hag responding to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher's analysis of his team
Gary Neville felt that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was wrong to hit out at Jamie Carragher.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher recently produced an analysis of United’s display in their defeat to Fulham on Monday Night Football. The Sky Sports pundit noted that United sat in a low block but pressed high in attacking areas, leaving space for Fulham to exploit in midfield.
During his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Ten Hag accused Carragher of criticising him since the beginning of his tenure at Old Trafford. However, United legend Neville was disappointed to see Ten Hag react to a pundit’s analysis.
“I must admit that when I saw it appear yesterday, my heart sank a little, from a Manchester United perspective, that he was getting involved in that,” Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast, sponsored by Sky Bet.
“The reality is that he might be secretly or privately annoyed and think there are some points [Carragher] made that are wrong, but [he has to think], “We have conceded a lot of chances, I’m not going to win this one, we’ve just lost a game, got a big game against Nottingham Forest, let’s not look like I’m even interested in that.” That was my thinking.”
United responded to the Fulham defeat and blow to their Champions League hopes by grabbing a late winner against Nottingham Forest to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals. Former United captain Roy Keane disagreed with Neville’s take on Ten Hag’s comments as he reflected on his own experiences as a manager.
“I’d have the mindset, if I came in and someone said that, I’d say Jamie has played the game, he’s entitled to his opinion and leave it at that. We’ve seen loads of managers react to questions,” Keane explained.
When asked by Neville if Ten Hag was “sweating the small stuff”, Keane replied: “He seems to be with that reaction of course, but that’s where the pressure comes. It’s off the back of a poor result, managers do so many press conferences, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. They are getting asked questions and every now and again they will [react].
“We see Pep [Guardiola] sometimes and think he needs to cheer up, but he’s in the zone, these managers are under huge pressure. They are going to react to questions sometimes that we feel are straightforward. He didn’t lose his head, he just said that he disagreed, and he’s entitled to do that. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”