19 August 2023 , 19:49
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Manchester United fans have taken to social media to vent their fury at Gary Neville after he poked fun at Anthony Martial during the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham.
The Red Devils were well below their best in north London and were forced to pay the price as Pape Matar Sarr opened the scoring early on in the first half, before a Lisandro Martinez own goal put the result beyond any doubt late on. Martial didn't actually come on until the last knockings of the clash, but there was still time for Neville to mock the Frenchman.
While on commentary duty for Sky Sports, Neville pondered: "How long was Anthony Martial's contract. He has been here forever. It's like groundhog day."
Supporters on social media seemingly failed to see the funny side and were quick to lash out at Neville and accused him of hypocrisy by pointing out he said nothing regarding Marcus Rashford's dismal display. One United fan wrote: "Gary Neville chatting nonsense about Martial who came on as a sub but not Rashford performance? Calm."
Another added: "Gary Neville talking about martial staying at the club too long but he don’t want to talk about his friend Rashford stinking up the place." The sentiment was echoed again, as one Red Devils fans tweeted: "G. Neville saying Martial has been at the club for far too long and saying nothing about Rashford."
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Martial failed to make any kind of meaningful impact while he was on the pitch but was by no means United's worst performer. The likes of Rashford, Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes all struggled to weave their influence on the game.
While Neville may not have singled out Rashford, fellow United legend Roy Keane was particularly scathing in his assessment of the England international. "He’s like a child up there. His body language and his first few touches suggest he doesn't want to play through the middle," the Irishman blasted.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Was Neville wrong to single out Martial? Comment below
Anthony Martial had a brief cameo for Man Utd against SpursKeane actually let rip at the whole side, adding: "They were fine in the first half an hour but the game is over 90 minutes. You're not going to dominate that long but you've got to show some belief, desire, fight."
Manager Erik ten Hag didn't seem quite as infuriated, as he told reporters: "I liked the first half, a very good performance but we have to score. We created good chances, really good press and had many chances to score."
The Dutchman was pressed for comment on whether United would look to make any more additions in the window, but kept his cards close to his chest as he explained: "It is not about adding to the team, we have to score goals."