Gary Neville made to eat his words as bizarre Liverpool claim and Kobbie Mainoo criticism backfires

Gary Neville was left to eat humble pie after two rather unusual pieces of commentary during Manchester United’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool on Sunday quickly came back to haunt him, with claims about Kobbie Mainoo and Jurgen Klopp almost instantly backfiring.

With the Merseysiders gunning for the Premier League title, a trip to their arch-rivals presented what many feared could be a major banana skin in their quest to sign off under Klopp as English champions. But Liverpool showed in the first 45 minutes just how good a side they can be and, with Alexis Mac Allister pulling the strings, went in 1-0 up at half-time.

Truth be told, the Merseysiders were significantly better than Manchester United in that first 45 and Erik ten Hag will have been relieved to have still been in the game at the break, with Liverpool spurning a raft of chances to at the very least double the advantage that Luis Diaz had given them after drilling home a well-worked corner-kick routine.

IN DEPTH ~ Alexis Mac Allister: How £35m Liverpool hero became Klopp’s last transfer masterstroke

With Liverpool on the front foot again in the early throes of the second half, it only seemed a matter of time before their lead was doubled but an inexplicable blind pass made by Jarell Quansah presented Bruno Fernandes with the ball and he expertly fired a first-time shot over the stranded Caoimhin Kelleher from over 40 yards out to draw United level.

Moments before that goal, Man Utd fan Neville had cut a frustrated figure on commentary for Sky Sports when discussing both United’s display and the title-run in for Liverpool.

He bizarrely claimed: “People thought this would be Liverpool’s hardest game in the title run-in. Well, let me tell you, this is the easiest one they will face…”

Gary Neville turns heat on Man Utd with major Liverpool claim

Moments later, Fernandes levelled the game, though in Neville’s defence, the goal did come out the blue.

While everyone knows that Neville’s comments may well have been tongue in cheek and perhaps even done so in an effort to tempt fate, they were made though with some reason.

And that’s because, after the match, it emerged that United had allowed Liverpool a total of 28 shots on their goal throughout the game – their highest number on record for a home Premier League game.

Vindicating his early comments about Liverpool facing an ‘easy game’, Neville told Sky Sports: “Manchester United’s style of play is mad.

“Some of the things you see out there, you wouldn’t see at schoolboy level.

“Their structure defensively goes from being in shape and being okay to all of a sudden emptying the whole midfield. Players press on their own without the rest of their team-mates going with them.

READ MORE: ‘Could be vital’ – Keane feels result of ‘mad game’ may decide title as Liverpool slip at Man Utd

“You have players in front of the ball at throw-ins and the ball gets thrown in behind towards the back four.

“All of the things that you see as, if you like, the easiest things in football to do, Manchester United do really badly.

“They are so easy to play against. Liverpool had 15 shots in that first half.

“You can’t really coach that type of performance. You are just relying on individual moments, luck, goalkeepers making saves and defenders making blocks. That’s what we’ve seen from them against Liverpool.

“I don’t think it is any lack of endeavour. There is no lack of desire in the team. There’s just no sense to their actual performance levels.”

Kobbie Mainoo also comes in for criticism

Neville also had some words of criticism for teenage sensation Mainoo, who positionally, he felt still has much to learn in the game.

The emergence of the teenager has been one of the big stories of the season and a major positive for United, with the 18-year-old making a total of 21 appearances to become a regular in the side, as well as making his England debut in the recent internationals against Brazil and Belgium.

He underlined that unbelievable potential with a world-class goal to fire United into a 2-1 lead against Liverpool on Sunday, shifting the ball with his left foot before swivelling to curl a brilliant effort into the top corner beyond Kelleher’s reach.

Nonetheless, Neville feels Mainoo has a lot to learn and was strongly questioning the Stockport-born player’s positioning in the United midfield amid wave after wave of Liverpool attacks.

Neville’s issue was more with United’s structure rather than Mainoo himself, claiming that the approach ‘defies logic’.

And in a question to the tactics of Ten Hag, Neville stated: “Look where Mainoo is there, he’s ahead of the ball from a throw-in.

“Forget Mac Allister, don’t be ahead of the ball! You can always get up to that one. It defies logic and it’s the basics of the game.”

Neville added: “Even now, he’s chasing across the pitch – he doesn’t need to! [Alejandro] Garnacho and [Rasmus] Hojlund can deal with that, look at the space in behind him, that space alongside Casemiro.”

However, that criticism soon turned to delight moments later when Mainoo scored his brilliant goal in a strike that could have won the match for United but for Mo Salah’s late equaliser from the penalty spot.

DON’T MISS: 10 times Liverpool and Man Utd rivalled each other for major signings – and who won