Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has singled out four Red Devils stars for their part in the humiliating rout at Manchester City.
The visitors conceded six goals in what was a dominant display from Pep Guardiola's men. While United fought back to score three times in the second-half, Erik ten Hag 's side never looked like claiming even a point at the Etihad Stadium.
Much was made of Ten Hag's decision to not start summer signing Casemiro in midfield following the shambolic first-half. United had paid £70million to bring him in from Real Madrid, but he spent the first hour on the bench.
However, Neville did not believe that selection call was the reason for the defeat. Instead, he slammed the performances of Marcus Rashford, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay.
"I don’t think if you’re analysing Manchester United ’s performance you should be saying, ‘why didn’t Casemiro start alongside McTominay?’ I don’t feel like that was a mistake from Ten Hag at all," the pundit told Sky Sports’ The Gary Neville Podcast.
"It was the unforced errors, the anxiety on the ball and the lack of composure. I’m not talking about the defenders at the back who are being pressed but the midfielders and the forwards: Rashford, Eriksen, Fernandes, McTominay.
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"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.
"They were forcing it far too early. It’s almost like they got into their heads, when they get it they’ve got to counter attack, they’ve got to put the ball in behind City, but to do that you’ve got to play those two or three passes in midfield and through midfield to set it up.
"You can’t just think you get the ball, play one pass, turn and knock it over the centre-backs, even if they’re not City’s best centre-backs, they’re going to read that. It just became really simple for City’s defenders to be able to cope with it."
Neville did admit that he had expected better from United's defence, who were run ragged by City's attack. But he insisted that the main fault lay with the players featuring further forward.
"There were problems with Dalot in defence, there were problems at centre-back with Varane and Martinez, there were problems with Malacia at left-back, there’s no doubt they didn’t have their best day," Neville added.
"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. The teams I’ve seen here do well have had to cope with defending a lot during the game.
"But they’ve also had to demonstrate that they can punch through City and hurt them to make the crowd nervous. United never did that in the first half, they just encouraged City all the time by giving the ball away in really poor areas.
"It was from players you wouldn’t expect it from. I said United bottled it, they froze, they were nervous. It’s difficult, I expected them to handle it better but I wouldn’t put the blame of today on the back four. I was more disappointed with how Manchester United’s midfield and forward players were. They didn’t turn up and you’ve not got a chance if they don’t."
