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Gary Neville has hit out at Nemanja Matic, claiming that the former Manchester United midfielder 'betrayed' the dressing room with his recent comments.
Matic recently stated that Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba were often late to training sessions, which led some of the players to form an internal 'disciplinary committee'. He told Austrian outlet YuPlanet:
"At Chelsea, players acted professionally. They were punctual and were never late for training. But at United, it happened almost every day.
"Among the players who would always be late were Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho, and a couple of other players. The rest of us who were always on time were angry so we decided to form a kind of an internal disciplinary committee with me serving as its president."
Neville didn't take kindly to these words. The former England international started off by highlighting the importance of punctuality and mentioning how he was never late to training himself.
However, Neville did not appreciate how Matic broke the sanctity of the dressing room by going to the media. The former Red Devils right-back said on the Overlap (h/t SportBible):
"A lot’s not right with the club, and hopefully new ownership will sort it out. But what we’ve heard from Nemanja Matic in the last week about lateness is something that just riles me.
"The biggest betrayal you can have in a football dressing room is when players or players’ representatives are going to the media to undermine the manager and other players in your dressing room. Honestly, that is f***ing unforgivable."
"...I’ve given them [Manchester United players] a pretty easy ride – but I have no sympathy at all for them if they are leaking stories or if they are being late."
Matic joined AS Roma in the summer of 2022 after spending five years at Manchester United. The 35-year-old left the Italian club after a year, signing a two-year deal at Stade Rennais this summer.
Erik ten Hag adamant he hasn't lost Manchester United dressing room
Recent reports have claimed that some Manchester United players have lost faith in Erik ten Hag's methods. The Dutchman has, however, shot down such claims.
Speaking before the Red Devils' 2-1 Premier League win against Chelsea on 6 December (Wednesday), the former Ajax manager told reporters (h/t Sky Sports):
"Not in the dressing room [if there is disorder in the squad]. Of course, there are a lot of rumours but it is not that we get distracted by it. We are on a journey. We know we are in transition but we are in the right direction."
Ten Hag infamously fell out with Cristiano Ronaldo during his first season in charge at Old Trafford, leading to the superstar's exit last November. He also banished Jadon Sancho from the senior team in September after a public spat following his team's 3-1 loss to Arsenal.
