When it comes to topics relating to his previous club, Gary Neville is known to be rather outspoken, and he has advised that current Manchester United players should avoid public appearances following the team's recent loss to Atletico Madrid.
On a positive note, the Red Devils drew 1-1 with Diego Simeone's team after the first leg in Spain, but they lost the second leg 1-0 to exit the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Ex-Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick tells CaughtOffside thinks the game and society have evolved significantly since Neville's time at United.
In Chadwick's perspective, United's players have the right to do it. Although they play for one of the world's most prestigious teams, these players are also human people who deserve to live a life they like.
Manchester United stars can't do anything these days without it being on social media, and that's a new world we're living in now. When Gary Neville was at the club, he was part of an extremely successful squad, so you can understand his displeasure. However, there were times when players left, but you didn't hear as much about it.
In the past, there wasn't the same level of scrutiny - now it's not just journalists reporting on it, but anyone with a smart phone that can capture film of players when they are out. However, it doesn't matter if you're a player or not; you have the right to live your life as you like.
"I don't believe Gary Neville ever went through anything like what's going on right now at the club. " He was a member of a team that was consistently successful, taking home trophies year after year. What it was like back in those days is impossible to imagine since the team would win one of the major awards virtually every year. Compared to today, it was a very different era, and partly because you didn't have individuals who could just take a picture of you on a cell phone.
"As far as I can remember, players rarely left the field throughout my time there." However, because the schedule was so hectic, there wasn't a lot of time to do anything. Even though I don't know much about player celebrations after defeat, there may have been a few occasions where the players had a meal or drink together."
Against Atletico Madrid, Manchester United ran out of ideas.
For all the praise Chadwick gave to his teammates in interviews, he was clearly disappointed in what he witnessed from them on the field in the 2-0 loss against Atletico.
He told CaughtOffside that the game as a whole was a little bland, but that United had failed to come up with any serious ideas to disrupt Simeone's game plan during the course of the match.
"I was surprised by how flat the game was. As they often do, Atletico Madrid had a game plan and executed it perfectly. "United seemed to be running out of ideas," he remarked.
A great European night at Old Trafford got off to an unsatisfactory start with this game. Atletico Madrid deserve to go through since they quieted the fans a little bit.
There's still a lot of work to be done if we want to finish in the top four and play in the Champions League next season. The calibre of player that United can pursue in the transfer market will change if this does not occur. A club that is not competing in the greatest event in Europe next season will be hard pressed to attract world-class players at the top of their games.
In my opinion, it would be wrong to single out anyone in particular, and I hope that the entire team on the pitch will take responsibility, which I believe they will. Nobody really had a big influence, and that was disheartening for everyone. They appeared to have run out of ideas, especially in the final 20 minutes when they were in desperate need of something, but there was nothing. No one volunteered, therefore "nothing happened."
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