Neville hits back at Amorim's 'excuse mentality'

GARY NEVILLE has blasted Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim for blaming pundits for the club’s struggles.

The ex-United skipper didn’t hold back after Amorim said that he feared his players were listening to the media .

2 Gary Neville has hit back at Ruben Amorim over his comments about pundits Credit: Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images

2 Under-fire boss Amorim has not found life easy after replacing Erik ten Hag Credit: Getty

Amorim suggested he feared criticism from pundits like Neville was seeping into the dressing room and influencing his players' confidence.

The United boss, whose side beat Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday , suggested that constant noise from the media was affecting how his players are taking to his instructions.

But Neville wasn’t having any of it.

He said on his own Gary Neville podcast : “I’ve not got a lot of time for that. If pundits are getting in your head, you shouldn’t be playing for Manchester United. Simple as that.”

Neville reminded Amorim and the current squad that harsh words from pundits are nothing new and used his own playing days under intense media pressure as a reality check.

He said: “Alan Hansen said we’d win nothing with kids. We were hammered. That’s football .

“You’re at Manchester United . It comes with the territory. Step up or step out.”

Neville’s scathing comments come after a rocky start to the season left United ninth in the table, with just three wins from seven and two of those coming against newly-promoted sides.

Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko’s goals were enough to beat Sunderland.

Neville’s main issue with Amorim’s comments was what he sees as a deeper cultural problem at the club, a lack of accountability and an eagerness to shift blame.

He said: “I never blamed anyone else when we lost games. In the dressing room, we’d hold our hands up and take it on the chin. That’s what proper players do.”

He warned that pointing fingers at pundits instead of looking inwards is a dangerous sign of weakness.

Neville added: “Excuse mentality, shortcuts, blaming other people… it’s the worst thing you can do in life.

“The only way to shut people up is by winning football matches and right now, they’re not doing that.”

United finished a disappointing 15th last season and a similar disastrous campaign could cost Amorim his job.

MASON MOUNT and Benjamin Sesko were on target as Manchester United beat Sunderland 2-0.

The Red Devils eased the pressure on Ruben Amorim as they bagged a much-needed win.

But who was United's best player at Old Trafford?

Find out how SunSport's Katherine Walsh rated the Red Devils here.