Even the team’s legend has turned his back.
Gary Neville, a legendary defender from Manchester United’s (Manchester United) golden era, has dropped the bombshell that he no longer wants to play or watch the club’s games, a sign of how badly the club is performing.
“Neville said he had become bored of watching his club play,” The Sun reported on Thursday (Aug. 4), citing comments Neville made during an appearance on Sky Sports.
On March 3, Manchester United suffered a 0-1 defeat in the 14th round of the 2023/24 English Premier League against Newcastle United. The performance was poor. Their possession hovered around 40% in the first and second halves combined. They didn’t even create many chances, with only eight shots on goal. Newcastle, on the other hand, had 22 shots on goal, including four big chances, boosting their expected goals (xG) to 2.5.
United’s form has left one of their legends devastated.
“It was a very poor performance,” Neville told Sky Sports, “very disappointing”. “It feels like we’re in a vicious cycle. “When the manager is targeted, the fans say, ‘You can’t get rid of the manager you brought in,’ and then they say the players should go,” Neville said. “When the manager is targeted, the fans say, ‘You can’t get rid of the manager you brought in,’ and then they point fingers at the owners,” Neville said, describing the club’s bleak situation over the years.
“I’m sick and tired of this,” Neville said, “I don’t want to commentate on United games, I don’t want to watch them. It’s probably the saddest judgment you can make on a football club,” he said, revealing his own fed-up with the club. He added: “I’m not the only one. “It’s not just me, other people have been turning their backs on the club in the last few weeks, saying ‘enough is enough’,” he confessed.
Nevertheless, “work ethic” keeps him watching United’s games. That’s because United will play Chelsea in the 15th round of the league on July 7. It will take place on Wednesday, local time. “Another Wednesday, I’ll have to watch United,” Neville said. “That’s life,” he said, “but today was a really unpleasant day to watch. It’s really sad,” Neville said.
The rest of the schedule doesn’t look good for United either.
After the Chelsea game, the Red Devils host AFC Bournemouth in the league’s round of 16, followed by a home game against German side Bayern Munich, whose hopes of reaching the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Champions League are on the line, and then the infamous North West derby away to Premier League second-place Liverpool.
All of these games are played just three to four days apart, so the physical demands will be even greater. That’s why Neville doesn’t have high hopes for the upcoming schedule.
“I love United and I love the excitement of football,” Neville says. “But I’m already dreading the trip to Liverpool in two weeks’ time, and I’m dreading the game against Chelsea on Wednesday right now,” he says. “They’ve taken our confidence away from us. It’s a really bad situation,” he said bitterly.