Gary Neville launched a scathing attack on Luke Shaw after Manchester United lost 1-0 to Everton. Keenan Dewsbury-Hall’s goal sealed victory for the Toffees at Old Trafford, ending United’s unbeaten run in the Premier League. Just before the hour mark, coach Ruben Amorim brought on Diogo Dalot for Patrick Dorg, maintaining the five-man formation. Neville was outraged by the decision, calling it “embarrassing.”
The former United star also criticized Shaw for a lack of urgency as the Reds chased an equaliser. “We have to have a sense of urgency to make the pitch as big as possible and get as many players in the forward areas as possible,” he told Sky Sports.
“Behind the ball you have Shaw, (Lenny) Yolo and (Matthejs) de Ligt. Shaw is more forward, but he is wandering forward, let me be clear. He has been bothering me for the last 20 minutes. He is wandering, he can’t do that.”
“He should run forward every time. I don’t care. Yoro, I have a little more sympathy for the show, but? It’s a waste of time. I don’t care. It’s a waste of time. I’m not fooling anyone. I don’t enjoy it.”
Neville added: “Reuben Amorim has a question to answer. Bringing Dalot in before the show? I don’t understand. Why, when there are five guys behind him? They haven’t got the first ball or the second ball yet. It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s supposed to be like the Alamo, really quick, high-tempo, passing from side to side, getting into wide areas, putting in crosses, getting bodies into the attack, sustaining the attack. United’s is very slow. They don’t have any presence in the box.”
United manager Amorim similarly took aim at his own players, but like Neville, he stopped short of name-dropping Shaw.
“We’re not there yet, we’re not even close to where we should be competing for the best position,” the head coach said. “We have a lot of work to do. We have to be perfect to win games and today we weren’t perfect.
“After seeing the result at the weekend, we should be on the pitch with a different kind of excitement. Old Trafford said, ‘We’re all here for a big step up.’ But we weren’t ready.”
“Everyone has praised our progress over the last five weeks, but I always say the same thing: we are still not close to the moment we should be at this club.”
