Neville raps team performance
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Manchester United captain Gary Neville slammed the way they played in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Neville said: "We looked tired at times, didn't pass the ball well and got punished. We found out that if you give the ball away in the middle of the field, Arsenal are still the best at running off you and breaking quickly.
"We gave it away too many times. We let ourselves down with our passing. We pride ourselves on that, it's what we do all week and in every game we try to make the pitch as big as possible when we get the ball.
"Against Arsenal it wasn't crisp enough, quick enough or accurate enough."
Neville admitted United were playing so poorly during the game he was just hoping to get a point.
He said: "With five minutes left I thought 'a draw's not a bad result'. But we paid for our mistakes once and once is all it needs."
Even Wayne Rooney, on his return from suspension, looked out of sorts.
United had played at home on Wednesday while Arsenal played in Hamburg.
Neville said: "There's no reason why we should have looked in a worse state than them, but they were fresh."
He believes the Premiership title remains for grabs.
Neville said: "The fact the top four sides have already been beaten proves it is going to be tighter this year.
"We can beat any of the top teams on our day and they know they can beat us."
Neville said: "We looked tired at times, didn't pass the ball well and got punished. We found out that if you give the ball away in the middle of the field, Arsenal are still the best at running off you and breaking quickly.
"We gave it away too many times. We let ourselves down with our passing. We pride ourselves on that, it's what we do all week and in every game we try to make the pitch as big as possible when we get the ball.
"Against Arsenal it wasn't crisp enough, quick enough or accurate enough."
Neville admitted United were playing so poorly during the game he was just hoping to get a point.
He said: "With five minutes left I thought 'a draw's not a bad result'. But we paid for our mistakes once and once is all it needs."
Even Wayne Rooney, on his return from suspension, looked out of sorts.
United had played at home on Wednesday while Arsenal played in Hamburg.
Neville said: "There's no reason why we should have looked in a worse state than them, but they were fresh."
He believes the Premiership title remains for grabs.
Neville said: "The fact the top four sides have already been beaten proves it is going to be tighter this year.
"We can beat any of the top teams on our day and they know they can beat us."
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