Premier League icon and former Newcastle goalscorer Alan Shearer has questioned the lackadaisical attitude of Manchester United’s players after the latter were defeated 1-0 by an infinitely more superior Newcastle United team.
Hero of the day Anthony Gordon secured the game’s only goal in the 55th minute, with the hardworking hosts holding onto their lead for the vital win over a listless Erik ten Hag selection.
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, Shearer didn’t mince his words and said that the Red Devils had no ‘characters’ capable of stepping up to lead their team through tough times. That aside, he also questioned attitudes among the players in Ten Hag’s camp. Shearer said: “They [Newcastle] absolutely battered Man United in wide areas. [Kieran] Trippier and [Tino] Livramento were sensational against [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka and [Diogo] Dalot.
“In their defense, they got no help whatsoever from [Alejandro] Garnacho and [Marcus] Rashford.
“Rashford didn’t look at it at all – didn’t look interested. It happened so many times. Newcastle created so many chances and they should have had many goals.
“For me, there are too many bad eggs in that Man United team. Too many bad attitudes.
“It’s alright when things are going well for you, you can get your feet on the ball, play and pick your head up when things are nice and rosy.
“When it’s not going for you, when you’re a bit tired and you’ve got to roll your sleeves up, there’s not enough characters in that team.”
On TNT Sports, pundit Jermaine Jenas suggested that a number of the players were actually using their body language to indirectly send a message to their boss, Ten Hag.
“I personally thought tonight there were signs that there were a couple of players in there for me that either wasn’t happy with the tactics that was put to them or wasn’t happy with their positions on the pitch,’ the TNT Sports pundit said.
“The body language of a team tells you a lot at times and there were a few of them that were sending a message to the manager.”
Manchester United will be welcoming Chelsea to Old Trafford on Wednesday night, the first of three consecutive games at Old Trafford that will culminate in a critical Champions League game against Bayern Munich.