Man Utd, Neville and how the media agenda is set

Gary Neville setting the media agenda when it comes to Manchester United is not a new thing.

The former England defender has called out the team's shortcomings on many previous occasions.

One instance was in December 2021, after a poor first-half performance against a struggling Newcastle side when Ralf Rangnick's side trailed 1-0 at the break.

"They're a bunch of whinge-bags," Neville said at half-time on Sky Sports. "I'll not go into names but they're whinging at each other, arms up in the air complaining about everything.

"There's no pressing, no urgency, the basics of the game."

Edinson Cavani rescued a point at St James' Park, but Neville's comments had already made the headlines.

You only need to look at how the post-match coverage developed after the Fulham draw.

Neville's remarks were put to Michael Carrick at full-time. The United manager said fitness levels of his players were not an issue.

'Neville: That was the worst ever', read the back page of Monday's Daily Telegraph.

'15 minutes of shame', was the lead for the sports section of the Daily Star.

'United boss keeps calm after Neville Ful blast', said the Daily Express.

It was picked up across online media, and discussed at length on radio talk shows - including across the BBC, as evidenced by this piece.

When Neville criticises his former club, it carries weight.

In January, with Ruben Amorim under pressure for poor results, the Portuguese head coach said that "if people cannot handle the Gary Nevilles and the criticisms of everything, we need to change the club".

There always seems to be a strong influence in the media related to the dominant team of a previous era.

For example, throughout the 1990s and 2000s, former Liverpool stars such as Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson and Phil Thompson dominated a lot of the conversation.

It stands to reason that members of the all-conquering United squad will now have a leading role in the media.

But for Neville, it is bigger than anyone apart perhaps from Gary Lineker and his Goalhanger production company.