Gary Neville says an unnamed Manchester United coach told him he was ‘disappointed’ with our performance in the EFL Cup final.
Neville told the Overlap that said member of Erik ten Hag’s staff wished United played some better football en route to Sunday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle.
Neville disagreed with the assessment, hailing our smart, controlled display which ended the wait for a trophy which has lasted since 2017.
United went 2-0 up before half-time and played on the counter attack thereafter, although still made the better chances on the break in the second half.
“I thought it was probably as good a cup final performance as you could wish to get at Wembley,” said Neville.
“I spoke to one of the United coaches actually at the end of the game and he said he was disappointed with the fact they didn’t play the football they would expect them to play.
“But I just think, how many brilliant performances do you ever see at Wembley, just generally? I played there a lot with England and United. You don’t often see free-flowing football.
“The occasion brings more nerves. Both teams were prepared like you wouldn’t believe. But to control the game in that way, to show the experience they did, I thought it was an unbelievable performance. Really impressive, shrewd and streetwise.”
United went into the game on the back of a tiring night against Barcelona just days before, while Newcastle had a full week to prepare.
Eddie Howe’s side came out quickly but United weathered that storm without offering much up in the way of clear sights of David de Gea’s goal.
Then, when we got our chances, United were ruthless, and could actually have scored more before the interval, and killed the game off later in the second period.
In cup finals, it is all about getting the result, but if United’s staff are disappointed with the display on Sunday, they can always qualify for another this season and play even better in that one.
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