Gary Neville described the first half of Sunday’s Manchester derby as “a non-entity”. By the 92nd minute, it was still “a pretty drab affair.” Players were fearful of giving the ball away, Neville said. And they weren’t alone in the Premier League, which he thinks lacks players playing “off the cuff”.

After the final whistle, Neville said, “They’re micromanaged within an inch of their lives. So robotic, that game, and quite symptomatic, actually, of quite a lot of games that we’re watching nowadays, and it’s not good enough.”

Was Neville overreacting, or is the Premier League full of fearful robots?

Shape

Neville said players are obsessed with shape, seemingly linking this to the fear of giving away possession. But shape doesn’t necessarily have to come at the cost of improvisation.

As Izzy Christiansen pointed out before the game, many of Kevin De Bruyne’s moments in his City career have been the very type of “off the cuff” (Christiansen also used the term) that Neville was calling for. During City’s first great side under Pep Guardiola, De Bruyne played as one of two “free 8s” in a 4-3-3, part of the most recognisably structured team in the league. His improvisation led to many of his goals and assists, but repeated patterns — not least his runs down the right half space before a cut back for an oncoming teammate — were a key part of their success.

The two teams’ shapes on Sunday may have contributed to the lack of excitement. Despite his apparent desire to play front foot football, Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 has often seen United playing cautiously, and yesterday it was likely a deliberate plan to deny Omar Marmoush space to run into behind the defence (and Kevin De Bruyne to play through balls). City were in a 4-4-2 diamond with split strikers, or a narrow 4-3-3 depending on how you looked at it, and lacked the width to trouble United’s deep defence.

While players may be reluctant to play risky passes, Amorim is even more unwilling to change his 3-4-3. (Although with United sitting back, the 3-4-3 was naturally more like a 5-4-1, as Guardiola described it.) Their plan led to some promising counters, but ultimately they lacked a major threat (their final xG was 0.92, with City’s 0.49).

Shots

Bruno Fernandes, easily the game’s standout player, said United’s “killer instinct today was missing a little bit” and that they should have taken one of their first half chances. He said United defended well and were organised and he “wasn’t worried about the defensive organisation or the speed of the team going backwards, pressing, because when we’ve played big teams we have showed that.”

The problem, he said, has been breaking down smaller reputation teams (including those above them in the table – in the last few months United have lost to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion, Bournemouth, and twice to Nottingham Forest).

According to WhoScored, United rank 8th for key passes (defined as the “final pass leading to a shot at goal from a teammate”) but only 12th for total shots. They’re 10th for total shots on target, but their strikers struggle to take many – Rasmus Højlund is at 0.8 shots per game, and Joshua Zirkzee 0.9. Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, Patrick Dorgu, and even Casemiro all take more shots (though the latter has only scored 1 league goal).

Dribbling

If there is a theme of fear, then the relative lack of dribbling is a part of it. Even as a former United player, Neville seemed relieved to see Jérémy Doku coming off the bench. Doku serves as an antidote to those City fans who have criticised Jack Grealish’s reluctance to take on his full back. The winger helped increase the tempo in the second half but failed to complete any dribbles. He could still be considered one of the more entertaining players. Sky Sports’s 3-minute highlights included two routine saves from André Onana and footage of him shielding the sun from his face.

Doku is top of this season league’s dribbling stats, though. He attempts 7.5 dribbles per 90 with 4.2 successful. West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus is next with 6.8 and 2.9 successful. But these players are outliers. Even some players in the top 10, like Doku’s teammate Savinho (4.4 and 2) and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka (4.3 and 1.9) are way behind Doku.

Doku’s general dribbling rate since he joined City in 2023 is even higher at 11.3 per game. But with 3.4 unsuccessful dribbles in the league this season, patience sometimes wears thin. Thom Harris wrote for The Athletic, “Familiar grumbles began to sound from some corners of the Etihad crowd after another electric — but ultimately fruitless — individual display from Doku just before this international break.” Even when he completes dribbles, there’s not necessarily an end product: “He completed 13 take-ons in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Brighton, without taking a shot or creating a chance for his team-mates.”

Stakes

After the match, Amorim said neither team fighting for the title meant the players lacked urgency. (United have nothing to play for, although City are still fighting for Champions League qualification.)

The lack of consequences is likely to affect more games before the end of the season. Southampton are already relegated; Ipswich and Leicester City were realistically gone long ago. Liverpool practically won the league in February, if not before.

Champions League qualification is the one area of real interest. Teams between 3rd and 9th all have a realistic chance. Man United visit Newcastle United this coming Sunday. With 4th in sight, Newcastle may introduce some urgency. Otherwise Neville could again be apologising for his “boring” commentary.

Top image from Sky Sports.