'Theatre of Nothing': Gary Neville rants at 'woeful' Manchester United performances following another humiliating defeat

Marcus Rashford of Manchester United applauds fans following their sides defeat in the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford on November 01, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester United legend Gary Neville ranted on social media about his former club's poor performances this season, rebranding Old Trafford from the Theatre of Dreams to the "Theatre of Nothing".

Wednesday night's 3-0 loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup compounded a difficult few days for Manchester United, which started with a defeat to the same score line at home to cross-city rival Manchester City on Sunday. 

Erik ten Hag is coming increasingly under pressure for the poor displays, and Gary Neville has clearly had enough with what he's seeing on the pitch.

A general view inside the stadium during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford on November 01, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Newcastle United compounded the pain on Manchester United (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Last night we saw the Theatre of Dreams turn into the Theatre of Nothing,” he wrote. “Every single United fan bored and flat. On the pitch the players in shock, the performances woeful and a manager struggling in front of our eyes. We’ve seen it before, we know how it ends and we’ve had enough.”

Before that, Neville highlighted how the structure at Manchester United isn't conducive for success. The Sky Sports pundit referred to the behind-the-scenes departments both Newcastle and Manchester City have implemented in order to provide a springboard for the clubs to thrive.

Manchester United, in his eyes, have not. 

Gary Neville during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Manchester City at Turf Moor on August 11, 2023 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) Manchester United

Neville ranted on social media about the state of the club (Image credit: Getty Images)

"On my way up to the gantry last night I bumped into Dan Ashworth," Neville described. "He transformed the FA’s structure, set Brighton up for this incredible period of success and has now built a strong foundation for the new owners at Newcastle. 

"He’s competent, highly qualified and knows what he’s doing. Will work with his coach, recruitment team and other departments coherently and calmly. In the last two matches Manchester United have played two clubs that have installed proper football departments to support the team on the pitch and off it. The complete opposite of United. We haven’t got a sporting director! 

"I used to travel up to Newcastle and feel sorry for their great fans when the energy and enthusiasm had been sapped from them under Mike Ashley. It was painful to see."

More Manchester United stories

Ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane labelled his old club "embarrassing" in the wake of the defeat to Manchester City – and Keane's former teammate Gary Neville made a similar assessment of Antony's aggressive substitute appearance.

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Man United's prospective takeover "is set to accelerate quickly".

News off the field hasn't been helped by the fact that Jude Bellingham rejected Manchester United because they couldn't promise he'd be "a first-team player".

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future. 

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