Olaleye Idowu
Manchester United icon, Gary Neville, has hit out at manager Ruben Amorim for suggesting that pundits are influencing his players.
He slammed the manager’s ‘excuse mentality’, adding it is the ‘worst thing you can do in life.’
The Portuguese gaffer, who led his team to a 2-0 win over Sunderland this weekend, had, before the game, insisted he won’t change certain things around the club despite the criticism he received.
Amorim said his biggest challenge was that his players listen to everything being said by pundits and even believe them.
“I get crazy about that…
“There is no one in the world who can read everything and listen to everything about people who understand football and not be influenced by that,” he said.
The Portuguese’s suggestion that pundits are harming the club’s display did not sit well with Neville.
Nevile said if players cannot cope with criticism, they should not be playing for Manchester United.
He said on the Gary Neville podcast, “If pundits are getting in your head, you shouldn’t be playing for the club, simple as that.
“Do people not remember Alan Hansen criticising us as young kids, saying ‘you can’t win anything with kids?’ That was the greatest centre back in that moment, the most successful centre back of all time at that moment, talking of us as if we were inferior and nowhere near good enough. Do they not think we got criticised during our football careers?
“I’m sorry, you’re playing for Manchester United, it comes with the territory. You’ve got to step up.
“I never blamed anyone else when we lost football matches. I played in a dressing room whereby when you lost football matches, you came in and said, ‘Sorry about that today lads, I was a mess for that goal’, there was accountability.
“Why would you blame other people when you’re losing matches? That’s a pretty big problem in itself.
“I’ve not got any time [for the suggestion that pundits influence players]. Excuse mentality, shortcuts, blaming other people, it’s the worst thing you can do in life.
“They need to concentrate on doing their job and doing it well and winning football matches. That’s the only thing that’s going to shut people up and that’s winning football matches and they’ve not won anywhere near enough football matches.”
