United Salvage Draw at Fulham as Neville Slams Disgraceful Performance
Matheus Cunha spared United from a third straight league defeat, but his late, deflected equaliser at Craven Cottage did nothing to mask an alarming performance that left Gary Neville seething.
Lisandro Martinez’s early own goal had set the tone for another chaotic afternoon, and for long spells United looked beaten in everything but the scoreline. Cunha’s strike salvaged a 1-1 draw. It did not rescue their reputation.
Neville turns on United’s work rate
On Sky Sports co-commentary, Neville watched the lethargy unfold in west London and could barely believe what he was seeing. The result kept United afloat; the manner of it dragged their effort into the spotlight.
His frustration was aimed not just at the players, but at manager Michael Carrick’s public defence of them.
“Michael has got to stop defending them,” Neville said. “I get why he's defending them; he's loyal, he wants his players to work for him, and obviously there's a long way to go in the season.
“Michael is of course saying something different to us than he is saying privately. That would've really worried me. People will ask questions about him, but he knew that when he took the job. But there's no panic in that sense - no one is putting pressure on Carrick - but if those types of performances continue, he will find himself in a lot of trouble. They've got to work harder than that for him.”
The message was blunt: loyalty has its limits. Keep playing like this and the manager, not just the squad, will be dragged into the storm.
“Mannequins” at Craven Cottage
This was not a one-off. The flat display followed a bruising league defeat to Manchester City and a Carabao Cup collapse against Brighton. United arrived in west London under scrutiny and did little to ease it.
Out of possession, Fulham were allowed to dictate. United barely laid a glove on them for an hour. Neville’s language reflected the depth of his anger.
“I've never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that,” he said. “Michael has just said there was nothing wrong with the team's energy.
“Both teams were the same. I called them mannequins. I've never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No 'on your toes'. You should always be on your toes.
“I'm always very careful to say that, but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball.”
The word “disgrace” hung in the air. Not about tactics. Not about shape. About running, pressing, competing – the basics supporters expect as standard.
United escaped with a point. The question now is whether they have escaped the deeper judgement on what this team is becoming.
