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Gary Neville believes Manchester United are “sleepwalking” into a fight to qualify for the Champions League places.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men looked very off-beat as they recorded a goalless draw at Crystal Palace, missing a chance to increase their one-point lead over third-place Leicester.
United are 14 points behind Premier League leaders and city rivals Manchester City ahead of Sunday’s derby against Etihad, and Neville fears defeat will lead them into the race with players like Liverpool and Chelsea to play in Europe’s top club competition next season.
“Manchester United have been worse in this second half than in the first,” Neville said while commenting for Sky Sports at Selhurst Park. “By going to the Etihad on Sunday they have put themselves under pressure.
“ They are sleepwalking into a top four race when it could be a lot more comfortable for them. They are so lethargic, there is no urgency, I hope they throw the kitchen sink.
“It’s almost as if they think it’s okay to draw this game, that they don’t see the danger of doing it. If they lose at Etihad and the results go against them, there will be teams in and around them.
‘There isn’t much of a fight out there, it just seems like they want the game to end. They’ve been sleepwalking during this game, poor, really poor. ‘
Then speaking after the game, Neville added: ‘We know the fans are not in the stadium and we know there has been a lot of football, but they really seemed lethargic tonight and fine.
‘The body language seemed really exhausted. I thought that progress had been made in the last few weeks and it gave me the feeling that they would solidify that second place by scoring three points at places like Crystal Palace and against Sheffield United and West Brom.
“But now they are making it very difficult for them, if you are watching Liverpool and Chelsea tonight, you are thinking ‘well, we have a good opportunity because they looked leggy.”
“Manchester United have to find something somewhere. There wasn’t any kind of urgency at the end of the game, you expect United to throw it all, but not even some of the guys that came out tried to do anything, take a chance and win the game.
But perhaps there was a fear that Crystal Palace would carry out counterattacks. It wasn’t a good night and you can’t have many performances like that.
“I have said in the past that when Louis van Gaal was the coach or José Mourinho was the coach, you can win, you can lose, you can draw, but you can’t be boring, and that was boring tonight to see that.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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