The final Manchester derby of the season was supposed to deliver fireworks. Instead, fans were left with 90 minutes of sterile, risk-averse football that former Man Utd Captain Gary Neville couldn’t stomach. United and Manchester City played out a goalless draw at Old Trafford, with neither side truly going for the win. It was a match that, despite its billing, lacked urgency, jeopardy, or even a hint of rivalry.
And Neville let rip.
“It was so robotic that game – and quite symptomatic, actually, of a lot of games that we’re watching nowadays. It’s not good enough. I feel disappointed.”
That was the theme of his post-match rant, one that’s since sparked major debate. Neville’s criticism wasn’t just aimed at City and United. It was about the wider direction of modern football.
Full-Time: ? Man Utd 0-0 Man City ?
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One of the worst games of the season ends with zero goals. pic.twitter.com/3dZ6jAMPR0
No risk, no excitement
For Neville, the biggest issue was the lack of ambition and risk-taking on display. “I don’t think there was one player who walked off the pitch disappointed about drawing the game 0-0, from either side,” he said. “They all sort of walked off thinking: ‘We’re okay here, we got away without making a mistake’. It was really disappointing.”
Even his own commentary didn’t escape criticism: “I apologise for my co-commentary, I think I let it get to me. I was boring on there as well. That was drab.”
A wider problem in the game?
Neville didn’t just stop at the derby, he used it to make a bigger point about football’s current direction.
“This robotic nature of not leaving our positions, being micromanaged within an inch of our lives, not having any freedom to take a risk, to go and try and win a football match… it’s becoming an illness in the game,” he said. “It’s becoming a disease in the game.”
He singled out the trend of possession-heavy, shape-obsessed teams as a major culprit: “It’s like we’ve got to a point in football where teams are frightened to death to give the ball away, make a mistake, take a risk. They’re all so obsessed with shape… nothing off-the-cuff is happening in lots of games.”
A Manchester Derby that sent us to sleep yesterday ?
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Agree with Gary Neville's verdict? pic.twitter.com/d0A7nNQ6zv
A derby with no edge
Perhaps the most telling part of Neville’s rant came when he addressed the players’ attitudes after the final whistle.
“The love-in that I’m watching tells you that both teams feel happy with a 0-0,” he said. “It looks like a Sunday afternoon and they’re going to go for a roast dinner together now.”
Instead of the usual needle and chaos you’d expect from a Manchester derby, there were smiles, handshakes, and no sense that either side had just played their local rival.
“This is a Manchester derby,” Neville fumed. “It should have more blood, thunder, risk and courage involved in playing the game and trying to win the game than that.”
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