Gary Neville’s first response to Marcus Rashford’s comments regarding Manchester United’s downfall over the last decade was a harsh put-down. Rashford has become progressively estranged from his boyhood club when Ruben Amorim came at Old Trafford, forcing him to go on loan to Aston Villa and Barcelona.
In an appearance on The Rest is Football podcast, the winger was cited as saying that United were “in no man’s land,” having failed to stick with initiatives over the years—with the Englishman having played under seven different managers during his stint at the club. However, Neville was unimpressed by Rashford’s criticism, implying that the striker had lost his right to talk.
Neville blasts Rashford on MNF
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football coverage of Leeds’ victory over Everton, Neville and co-host Jamie Carragher made their early predictions for the new season, with Neville possibly swayed by United’s impressive performance in defeat to Arsenal, placing them in his top four.
Neville was later asked if Ruben Amorim had a free hit at Old Trafford this season, which the former defender denied if the club finished in the lower half of the table again. Presenter Dave Jones then brought up Rashford’s comments about the club always changing managers and not sticking to initiatives, but Neville was having none of it.
In response, Neville said:
“Let’s overlook it because I don’t want to get into Marcus Rashford’s comments tonight. He was with the club for ten years and had the potential to make an impression. I believe Ruben Amorim will perform well this year. Marcus should focus on Barcelona.
Neville would go on to reflect on how the Red Devils looked against the Gunners in their first game of the new season, saying: “Yesterday was the first time I saw that formation out on Old Trafford, and I thought, ‘Right, we’ve got a chance here, that worked.'”
“He’d brought in a few different players, got [Mason] Mount back, and introduced Luke Shaw at left centre-back, which helped, and I think it was the first time; it’s a difficult, rare system that requires specialists, but when you saw [Matheus] Cunha play, Mount play, Shaw at left centre-back – there was a balance! Casemiro appeared to have improved dramatically! “He looked like a better player right away.”
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