Gary Neville took a deep breath after Lisandro Martinez's own goal put Fulham ahead just over an hour into what had been a laboured Manchester United performance, and delivered his verdict. The former United skipper is never short of a scathing word, but even by his standards, this was brutal. "I've watched Manchester United since the age of five and that's the worst 15 minutes I've ever seen," he said.
"I've never seen such a lack of effort. What must [Michael] Carrick be thinking?" For context, Neville was part of the United side beaten 3-1 by Sunday's opponents Fulham at Old Trafford in October 2003. In recent memory they have also lost 7-0 at Liverpool and 6-1 at home twice, to Tottenham and Manchester City.
Neville's words came after a poor quarter of an hour from the start of the second half to Martinez's moment of ill fortune, before United went on to snatch a 1-1 draw thanks to Matheus Cunha's deflected strike in the 89th minute. It seemed an extreme reaction. But in a week when United lost the Manchester derby to a City side reduced to 10 men midway through the first half, then against Brighton for the first time in more than 50 years were beaten at home after giving away a two-goal lead, frustration among the fanbase is high.
Questions over fitness were first raised during pre-season when midfielder Youri Tielemans revealed United were not prioritising running. While Cunha did not exactly agree with Neville in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, his comments will have fuelled more debate around the issue. "At the beginning of the second half they put in more energy than us," said the Brazilian.
"We cannot accept this." Unsurprisingly, Carrick had a different take. He used the way his side tried to pressure the home team in the latter stages, leading to Cunha's equaliser, as evidence his squad is fit enough. "The way we finished the game, actually, it didn't look like that.
We finished the game really strong actually, and kept pushing. I don't think that's an issue, no," he said. Cunha also mentioned the "noise" around United when he spoke to BBC Match of the Day.
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