Gary Neville calls out the ‘absolutely pathetic’ side of football as he harshly criticizes Man Utd in a fiery rant.
Gary Neville didn’t hold back, calling Manchester United “absolutely pathetic” after they fell 1-0 behind to Fulham in one of his most intense rants ever. The first half at Craven Cottage was exciting, with both teams taking a total of 26 shots. But the start of the second half was the complete opposite—neither side had a shot in the first 15 minutes.
Neville got frustrated with how both teams were just “walking” off the ball. The moment Lisandro Martinez scored a terrible own goal really pushed him over the edge. He said, “I’ve watched Manchester United since I was five, and that was the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen them play. Absolutely pathetic. They just walked for 15 minutes.”
He added, “In football, you get what you deserve. Maybe this will wake them up, maybe Fulham too. But I’ve never seen a lack of effort like that for 15 or 20 minutes.”
Before the own goal, Neville had already shared how hard it was to watch both teams strolling around, saying, “You should never walk on a football pitch. It’s really strange. Both teams are the same.”
Fans on social media pointed out that they’ve seen other top matches where teams also moved slowly and lacked urgency on and off the ball. According to Fotmob, United are currently last among all 20 Premier League teams for distance covered this season, at 105.4 kilometers—even with the Craven Cottage game still happening.
Interestingly, this isn’t just about United. Some top clubs show a similar pattern: Manchester City are 17th with 111.2 kilometers covered, and Liverpool 19th with 110.3 kilometers. Many Liverpool fans also criticized their team for not showing enough effort despite winning 1-0 against Bournemouth on Sunday.
Part of these numbers, especially for City, comes from teams focusing on holding position rather than running all over the pitch. Arsenal lead the way for distance covered this season and are fifth in possession, averaging 59.3% per game. United actually rank higher than them in possession, sitting fourth.