Gary Neville launched an attack on Manchester United’s players and accused them of giving up on Michael Carrick, who is under mounting pressure following the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday.
The manager dropped captain Bruno Fernandes after his criticism of Carrick’s tactics following the 4-1 defeat to Como in midweek while Lisandro Martinez spoke out against the United hierarchy following the loss at Atletico Madrid earlier this month.
United are now without a win in eight games and Neville, a former team-mate of Carrick’s under Sir Alex Ferguson, was critical of the current squad’s professionalism and standards following a remarkable unravelling under Carrick this season.
Neville accused United’s players of walking around like “kings” even though “they are nothing” and said the club’s problems run far deeper than Carrick.
“Michael Carrick is a brilliant man,” Neville on Sky Sports. “He's a man of integrity, of credibility, of decency, of professionalism, of high-quality football and consistency and reliability. Everything the group of players in that dressing room aren’t.
“And he's going to suffer for it because he's not been able to deliver. It's been too much for him in these last few months. He's not been able to get a tune out of them and they've turned on him.
“I know that because if Bruno has turned on him publicly, with that little statement, imagine what they're like behind the scenes.
“If that's your captain saying that, imagine what they're saying in the dressing room behind closed doors when no one's listening. That's horrific.
"There's a few of them that don't go to bed at the right time, don't eat the right things, don't think about Manchester United every single minute of every day, and aren't living and breathing this football club as they should be - and as professionals should.
“Why? Because it's gone to their heads. But they still walk around like King William. They are nothing, some of those players.”
Carrick spoke for almost six minutes at the start of his pre-match press conference on Friday, imploring the importance of “sacrifice”, “humility” and “hard work” in an impassioned speech which highlighted the “values” of the club and “respecting” the responsibility of representing United.
But while Carrick was applauded off the pitch by United’s fans, there were boos for the players and Neville said they produced a “nothing of a performance”.
“Nothing against Tottenham here, nothing against Como, nothing against Atletico Madrid. A little bit against Leeds, it was a bit of a fight, but nothing against Fulham. That was a waste of time,” he said.
“So, this is a pattern of nothings, of players switching off and downing tools.”