“We’re not being harsh enough” – Gary Neville’s scathing assessment of Man United forward

Gary Neville provided a scathing assessment of Manchester United forward Anthony Martial before the club’s 3-0 defeat against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

The Reds suffered a fourth-round exit in embarrassing fashion and Neville was critical of three players in the build-up to the opening goal of the game.

However, it was Martial who took the brunt of the former United defender’s criticism before the fixture and he didn’t do much during the encounter to prove him wrong.

“Sometimes I ask myself the question, when you walk away from a broadcast like Sunday, ‘are we being too harsh?’,” he began, speaking ahead of kick-off on Sky Sports.

“But when you hear that stat that a guy has been at the club nine years – a goalscorer that cost £50m, £60m, £70m – has scored basically 89 goals in nine years and we still can’t get him out of the club, I don’t think we are being too harsh. I don’t think we’re being harsh enough.”

Martial has not completed a 90-minute game under Erik ten Hag and the last time he did play a full match for the club was in September 2021 against West Ham in the Carabao Cup under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Whilst his injury problems have been part of the cause, Neville believes that the Frenchman still being relied on for the club now is an example of their failings.

“The failings of the football department and recruitment is just absolutely incredible,” he added. “They’re human beings at the end of the day and no one wants to go on the pitch, play badly and not achieve their standards. Nobody wants to be injured.

“So I accept all those factors but the reality is there is no way he should still be leading the line at Man United in any competition, even the Carabao Cup. It’s just where the club is at the moment, they don’t have a centre forward apart from Hojlund who I think has real promise but he needs experience alongside him.”