Gary Neville sends blunt message to Jose Mourinho about Man United v Liverpool FC
The Man United legend warns Jose Mourinho that the Red Devils fans won't accept negative tactics against Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon
Gary Neville has warned Jose Mourinho that Manchester United supporters won’t accept another defensive performance against Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils have left Anfield with goalless stalemates with in their last two Premier League games on the red half of Merseyside under Portuguese coach Mourinho.
Manchester United showed little adventure and were content to settle for a point as Mourinho sent out his Red Devils team to contain Liverpool FC’s attack.
Unsurprisingly, Mourinho’s tactics attracted criticism from some pundits and supporters, despite the Portuguese coach regularly deploying conservative tactics in big games.
Liverpool FC battled to a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League to ensure Mourinho’s unbeaten record against the Anfield outfit as Red Devils boss.
Former Manchester United defender Neville doesn’t believe the Red Devils supporters will accept Mourinho’s negative tactics when his side host Liverpool FC this weekend.
“If I remember rightly, in Jose’s first season it was a really bad game at Anfield on a Monday night. He went into the game with injuries and on the back of some bad results,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“There was a feeling that he couldn’t lose the game otherwise things would start to go wrong quickly, like it had done for David Moyes for example, so it was a really dour game.
“The game this year at Anfield, I’ve said it before, a Manchester United v Liverpool game can be a draw, there can be few shots on target because both teams are tactically aware of each other and they are focused and concentrating to win.
“But it can never be boring and it can never lack the intent to win. The game at Anfield this season was unacceptable and bordered on games we’ve seen in recent weeks. Both teams towards the end accepted that a point was the right result, Liverpool stepped off the gas a little bit and United were bang average.
“It cannot be like that. It’s got to be better. Jose Mourinho received a lot of criticism after that game, and rightly so, and to be fair, in the big games since, he has actually changed his formation and tactics to be more attacking.”
Liverpool FC moved into second place in the Premier League table following a 2-0 win over Newcastle United last Saturday.
The Red Devils responded with a 3-2 win at Crystal Palace thanks to Nemanja Matic’s last-gasp winner at Selhurst Park last weekend.
Manchester United finished in sixth spot in the Premier League last term.
