This Saturday, Manchester United will play Manchester City in the FA Cup final again, and Gary Neville has shocked Roy Keane by revealing why he won’t be attending.
Gary Neville’s announcement that he would not be attending the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City drew criticism from Roy Keane.
After falling short 2-1 the previous year, United will face City at Wembley in the FA Cup final for the second time. Coming into the FA Cup final on Saturday, Erik ten Hag’s team is a huge underdog because they only managed to finish eighth in the Premier League, while City won the championship for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.
The fact that United finished last in the Premier League era and suffered 14 league losses, their lowest total since 1989–1990, has left the team’s supporters lacking confidence. Despite having played for his childhood club for 19 years, Neville is still an ardent United supporter, but he will not be attending the match on Saturday.
Neville stated on the Stick to Football podcast, “Do you know what, I went last year, and I didn’t enjoy it,” in response to a question about why he wouldn’t go. It was difficult to enter the stadium and exit to the parking lot. When I ran into a few City supporters on the way out, I simply said, “nah.”
His ex-teammate Keane did not accept that explanation and ripped into him. The Irishman asked, “You’re saying you’ll be behind the sofa?” If you feel as though you can’t watch United in a cup final, that’s a sad state of affairs. You know, there’s always a chance they’ll show up and deliver a memorable moment or performance. They certainly seem to have their moments.
“I look at the City team and Spurs played well against them in the last few weeks. I also look at the game against Nottingham Forest and wonder if the City team is still the favorite. Of course they are, but even so, if you have any faith in United to show up at Wembley and deliver a show, you still have to go down there
Ilkay Gundogan scored two goals to help City win at Wembley last season, taking them one step closer to the treble. This time, they’re going for the league and cup double, and they haven’t lost in 35 games across all competitions for more than ninety minutes since falling to Aston Villa 1-0 on December 6.
Keane has called on United to abandon the mindset that he feels prevented them from winning last season. He continued, “Manchester United made noise last year after they lost the championship game, almost like they were rewarding themselves for making it that far.” “Stop talking trash; you need to show up and perform. Give yourself some time; don’t give up after 15 seconds. After that, the game was over. City had played with them, diverted their attention, and offered them some encouragement.