Mueez Ajao
– Gary Neville described Manchester United’s players as “whingebags” and criticised Cristiano Ronaldo for failing to applaud the club’s supporters, while interim manager Ralf Rangnick said his players lacked aggression during a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.
– Edinson Cavani’s second-half equaliser rescued a point for United against relegation-threatened Newcastle, who had scored first through Allan Saint-Maximin.
– United produced one of their worst performances of a disappointing season, though, prompting the club’s former captain Neville to condemn their display in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports.
Also Read: Cavani rescues a point for Man Utd at St James’ Park
– “They are a bunch of whingebags, their arms were in the air,” Neville said. “They got the last manager the sack and they will get a lot of managers the sack [playing] like that.”
– Neville also hit out at Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes after the pair left the pitch and headed up the tunnel immediately after the final whistle.
– “I think there’s something wrong in there,” he said. “You cannot run off the pitch at the end of the game and you have to clap the fans.
– “It’s devastating for the younger players if those two best players in the team are looking at the others like you aren’t good enough.”
– Rangnick, who extended his unbeaten start as interim manager to four games, was also unimpressed by his team’s performance.
– “I didn’t like the performance at all,” he said. “Today we didn’t control the game apart from a few moments. It’s all about energy, physicality and who wins the second balls.
– “In all those areas we weren’t at our best. The good thing is we got a point but the performance needs to be better.”
– Rangnick, who replaced the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer earlier this month, was critical of United’s lack of aggression against Eddie Howe’s team.
– “You have to be ready and able to win those direct duels and this was not that often the case,” Rangnick said. “Today was not a question of body language, it was a question of body physicality.
– “If you want to be competitive here you have to get physical and this was not the case in many parts of the game. Today it was not a question of formation — it was a question of how aggressive we were.
– “In three days we have the next game. We can do better but we have to do it. We shouldn’t look for excuses — we need to be better and get more physical.
– “I was not happy with our performance with the ball or when we had to press. What kind of energy mode do we play with the ball and without the ball?”
– The result left the Old Trafford side seventh in the standings on 28 points from 17 games, behind sixth-placed West Ham on goal difference, while Newcastle stayed 19th on 11 points from 19 matches.
