Gary Neville admits his ‘heart sank’ after hearing one comment from Erik ten Hag this week

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Gary Neville has admitted that his ‘heart sank’ upon hearing Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag responding to Jamie Carragher.

United were at it again on Wednesday night, leaving it late to secure a narrow win after another fairly underwhelming display.

A win is a win and United are now into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, but the inquest after Saturday’s defeat to Fulham continues.

United saw Fulham snatch a late winner to secure a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, halting the recent momentum for Erik ten Hag.

The performance has been analysed and criticised with Jamie Carragher leading the charge this week…

Erik ten Hag’s reaction to Jamie Carragher

Carragher studied United’s performance on Monday Night Football, highlighting major problems in Ten Hag’s side from the kick-off.

The former Liverpool defender didn’t like the huge spaces in the United midfield, believing that Fulham were exploiting major gaps.

Ten Hag reacted on Tuesday, suggesting that Carragher just wanted to criticise United, accusing him of being ‘subjective’ rather than objective.

Maybe the suggestion here is that Carragher’s Liverpool ties mean he is especially harsh on United and Ten Hag, but the Dutchman’s comments have left Gary Neville a little disappointed…

• READ MORE: Who is Gary Neville? Step into the world of the Manchester United legend turned top-tier pundit

Gary Neville on Ten Hag comments

Neville has now spoken on The Overlap and has admitted that his ‘heart sank’ upon hearing Ten Hag firing a jab at Carragher.

Neville feels that Ten Hag simply shouldn’t be getting involved in responding to pundits when he should be focusing on United’s games.

The former United defender suggested that Ten Hag may well be annoyed with Carragher’s comments, but he needs to keep it in private.

Neville thinks that Ten Hag needs to show that he isn’t even interested in Carragher’s verdict, especially after a defeat and ahead of a big game.

“I must admit, when I saw it yesterday appear, my heart sank a little bit from a United perspective, that he was getting involved in that,” said Neville. “The reality is that he might be secretly or privately annoyed, and think there’s some points you’ve made that are wrong, but actually, we have conceded a lot of chances, I’m not going to win this one, we’ve just lost a game, I’ve got a big game against Nottingham Forest, let’s not look like I’m even interested in that,” he added.

Ten Hag is clearly still a man under pressure despite a recent run of victories in the Premier League.

Ineos will be studying Ten Hag carefully in the coming months and his reaction to Carragher just adds to the notion that he is feeling the heat in this crucial period.