Despite losing embarrassingly to Liverpool on April 19, Gary Neville has found solace in the performance of one Man United player.
The Red Devils’ season has spiralled further into the land of horrors. The club suffered a shocking 4-0 defeat at the hands of their biggest rivals. Ralf Rangnick’s men produced a woeful performance as Liverpool dismantled them in every single department.
The Merseyside club had seven times as many shots at goal and dominated possession, with United recording a pitiful 28%. The six-time European Cup winners started strongly. Luis Diaz hit the back of the net after five minutes, and from that point onwards, United couldn’t get back into the game.
Salah and Mane found the goal before the Egyptian sensation bagged a second to round off a truly awful day at the office for United. Of course, their woeful performance resulted in Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Graeme Souness laying into the squad. The Irishman claimed that no player had the ‘spirit’ to play for the club.
It’s fair to say that the squad has failed to perform irrespective of the manager at the helm. Very few of the players have a genuine desire to see the club return to its glory days. But Neville found himself feeling proud of the performance of one starlet.
Read: Ralf Rangnick hits back at Gary Neville criticism of Man United players.
Gary Neville praises Hannibal Mejbri
Mejbri, a 19-year-old midfielder, made his second appearance for United in a brief cameo and gave it everything. His tremendous effort caught the former right-back’s attention. After watching others sulk, Neville shined a light on Mejbri.
He told Sky Sports: “You find yourself being slightly unprofessional because he’s come on, and to be fair, he’s started to top a couple of them. But the reality of it is I have to say it because the instinct in you the sort of if you like the 80s and 90s growing up through those periods which me and him (Carragher) did.
“If you’re on the pitch football pitch and Thiago’s going round there rolling his foot on the ball, pipping it round the corner and laughing at you on the bench, you come on, and basically you’ve got to through some challenges at there. That was Whiteside, that was Norman Whiteside.”
Neville later added: “That’s what Norman Whiteside and Bryan Robson used to do when they came in, and they knew they were playing against better players and a better team. They’d come and give it to them.
“That kid came on at the end, and he showed something. He reminded me of Nobby Styles and of Eric Harrison and the basic, basic, basic principles of being a football player. Compete, win your duels, fight for every ball. And there’s only one kid who came on and demonstrated that he had the heart and soul to play for Manchester United football club tonight. Him.”
With the squad clearly needing a massive revamp, perhaps Erik ten Hag can utilise Mejbri in his team. The Dutch coach notoriously takes no passengers. Therefore, fans desperately hope that his impact can help breathe life back into the rapidly disintegrating club.
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