United's Struggles Highlighted by Neville's Critique
United’s late escape at Craven Cottage did little to disguise a performance that left Gary Neville seething.
A deflected strike from Matheus Cunha in the closing stages salvaged a 1-1 draw against Fulham, sparing United from a third straight league defeat and bailing out Lisandro Martinez after his early own goal. The point was vital. The display was anything but.
A point rescued, a reputation damaged
United started chaotically. Martinez’s disastrous early intervention handed Fulham the lead and set the tone for a lethargic, disjointed showing in west London. For long spells, the visitors looked flat, second to loose balls, and strangely lifeless without the ball.
The late equaliser changed the scoreline, not the mood.
Neville, on Sky Sports co-commentary, cut through any attempt to dress the performance up as anything other than alarming. His frustration was not just with the players, but with manager Michael Carrick’s public defence of them.
“Michael has got to stop defending them,” Neville said, laying down a blunt challenge to his former team-mate. He acknowledged Carrick’s loyalty and the need to keep the dressing room with him, but the wider message was clear: the manager cannot keep shielding a group delivering this little intensity.
Neville turns the heat on Carrick’s stance
Carrick had pushed back on the idea that his side were passive. Neville could hardly believe it.
"Michael is of course saying something different to us than he is saying privately. That would've really worried me," he admitted, warning that such performances would inevitably drag the manager into the firing line, even if there is currently “no panic” and “no one is putting pressure on Carrick”.
The warning came with a sting: “If those types of performances continue, he will find himself in a lot of trouble. They've got to work harder than that for him."
This was not a one-off. The display at Fulham followed a damaging run: defeat to Manchester City in the league and a Carabao Cup collapse against Brighton. The pattern is what disturbed Neville most – a United side drifting without the ball, offering minimal resistance.
“Mannequins”: United savaged for work rate
Neville’s assessment of United’s off-the-ball work was brutal.
"I've never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that," he said. Carrick had insisted there was “nothing wrong with the team's energy”. Neville flatly disagreed.
He described both teams as operating at the same physical level, but only one side looked like it wanted to control the match. Fulham dominated possession far too easily, with United reduced to spectators.
"I called them mannequins. I've never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No 'on your toes'. You should always be on your toes."
The most damning verdict came when he turned to that long, sluggish spell after half-time.
"In those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball."
A fragile platform, and a manager under quiet scrutiny
Cunha’s goal might prove important in the table, but it did nothing to silence the questions about United’s mentality and intensity. The draw stops the bleeding on paper; it does not stop the noise around the club.
Carrick insists there is no crisis, no energy problem, no reason to panic. Neville sees something very different: a team walking when they should be hunting, and a manager who may soon have to choose between protecting his players and protecting his own future.
