Gary Neville has revealed he was ‘panicking’ before Manchester United vs Liverpool and claims Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still ‘one game away’ from being under pressure again despite the team’s ‘mini revival’.
United went into the October 20 clash just two points clear of the relegation zone after their worst ever start to a Premier League season, while the Merseysiders were eight points clear at the top of the table.
Many supporters, including club icon Neville, feared the worst, but the Red Devils produced one of their best performances of the season at the best possible time as they claimed a 1-1 draw with their rivals at Old Trafford.
Since that result United have gone on a bit of a run, with three straight wins over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League, Norwich City in the Premier League and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.
Next up is a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday, where three points could lift them up to fifth – depending on other results – and further ease the pressure on the team and manager Solskjaer.
However, Neville – ever the pragmatist – knows United are just one bad performance and result away from being right back where they started.
“As a United fan, I went into the Liverpool game panicking,” he said in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT, which took place before the cup win over Chelsea.
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“I was thinking this could be a bad day, this could get moody in the stadium, Liverpool are a great team and they could go 3-0 up – but United played really well.
“Ole had been questioned tactically but he got it right on the day and that was the start of this little run they’re on, beating Partizan and then the Norwich win was big.
“I don’t think they would have been capable of going to Norwich and winning pre the international break. That Liverpool game gave them a little bit of confidence to think: ‘We’re better than this, let’s be positive and beat Norwich’.
“So there has been a mini revival, but I don’t think Ole will be sat comfortable in his chair. I think he realises he is one game away from the clouds circling again.
“Ole is looking up the table rather than look down, so it’s an important game.”
Listen to a clip of talkSPORT’s interview with Gary Neville above
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