Gary Neville and Arsene Wenger laid the blame for Manchester United's dismal 6-3 mauling in the Manchester derby at the feet of two different sets of players.
Former Arsenal manager Wenger slammed the defensive performances of Diogo Dalot, Jadon Sancho and Antony, while ex-Red Devils captain Neville believes that the "negative vibes" from Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford allowed bitter rivals City to run riot on Sunday. As Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both bagged sublime hat-tricks, Wenger took aim at United's wide players after the humiliating loss.
"What is for me unbelievable in the first half is that Man United has defended so badly on the flanks," the Frenchman lamented on beIN Sports. "From the first minute Dalot got a yellow card, and Sancho and Antony did not contribute defensively. They were, in the whole half, flooded on the flanks and they were always in trouble."
Neville, meanwhile, looked at how the Red Devils' attackers failed to maintain possession during the rare periods in which Erik ten Hag 's side could've troubled Pep Guardiola and co.
"It was the unforced errors, the anxiety on the ball and the lack of composure," the 85-capped England international explained on his Sky Sports podcast. "I'm not talking about the defenders at the back who are being pressed but the midfielders and the forwards: Rashford, Eriksen, Fernandes, McTominay.
"They were all giving it away in that first half unnecessarily. It just then brings further negative vibes throughout the team when your best players aren’t handling the ball well. They should’ve been better, a lot better."
Have your say! Who do you agree with - Neville or Wenger? Give us your verdict in the comments section.
Neville did agree with Wenger on one player who contributed to his old team's downfall, right-back Dalot, but he wasn't willing to let the Portuguese defender's teammates off the hook.
"There were problems with Dalot in defence, there were problems at centre-back with [Raphael] Varane and [Lisandro] Martinez, there were problems with [Tyrell] Malacia at left-back, there's no doubt they didn't have their best day," he acknowledged. "But the standout thing for me was just how badly Manchester United's players in midfield and up front handled the ball in the first half."
Manager Ten Hag put the Red Devils' hapless display down to a "lack of belief," a peculiar admission given the fact United have already beaten Liverpool and Arsenal this season, and looked to have improved greatly during the early days of his tenure.
"When you don't believe on the pitch then you can't win games, that is unacceptable," Ten Hag told BBC Sport. "We get undisciplined at following rules and you get hammered, that's happened today."
