Gary Neville has slammed Manchester United players for showing up late for training after ex-Red Devils star Nemanja Matic claimed it was a regular occurrence during his time at Old Trafford.
Matic stated in an interview earlier this week that United’s players racked up £75,000 worth of fines in a single season for failing to show up on time, and he picked out Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho as two stars that were always late.
Neville feels this is completely unacceptable, and has opened up on the time he was left ‘absolutely devastated’ on the one occasion he was late in his 20-year career.
‘I got stuck in horrendous traffic; I was never late. I was ringing up, I was frantic, I was absolutely devastated.
Ex-Man United star Nemanja Matic recently claimed punctuality was a major issue at the club
Matic said Jadon Sancho (left) and Paul Pogba (right) were always late during his time at United
Gary Neville (left) believes being late is ‘the most disrespectful thing you can do’
‘Just the standards that I set, just if anyone else was late I’d criticise people, because that is the most disrespectful thing you can do, making your teammates wait.
‘Working hard goes without saying, but if everyone is waiting for you, you can’t be that person in life.’
Roy Keane agreed with Neville that being late is a bad look and should not be tolerated.
The former United captain pointed out that the other players in the squad should be making it clear that it is not good enough and setting higher standards for their team-mates.
‘This idea with lads being constantly late for training [at Manchester United] shouldn’t happen,’ Keane said.
‘A player can be late for training, it can happen – it can be stuck in traffic, or your car breaks down – but if that’s a regular occurrence, then that’s not good.
‘A decent dressing room wouldn’t tolerate players being late – if it was the norm then a group would get hold of him.’
Roy Keane (left) believes showing up late should never have been tolerated by United players
Matic naming Pogba and Sancho as primary culprits at United when it came to punctuality hardly came as a surprise to Jamie Carragher.
Pogba is currently facing a potential ban from football after testing positive for a prohibited substance earlier this season, while Sancho has not played for United since August after a public fall-out with United boss Erik ten Hag.
He believes their attitude to time-keeping has had an impact on their overall careers, resulting in neither player achieving their full potential.
‘Have those players (Pogba and Sancho) fulfilled really what they should have done on a football pitch?’ Carragher asked.
‘These little things in terms of being on time for training, being a good trainer, having that mentality – thinking about football constantly 24/7 – it means you get the best out of yourself. Those two players that we’re talking about have not got the best out of themselves as footballers.
Jamie Carragher believes Sancho and Pogba’s attitude to time-keeping has impacted their careers
He feels Pogba could have been a Ballon d’Or contender but his attitude has held him back
‘The knock-on effects of thinking, “I’ll just come in 10 minutes late, it’s not the end of the world”, it then goes into your football, it goes into your training. Have you got enough time between when you come in, to when you go to training, to whether you need to see the physio. Have you had a massage? Have you been in the gym?
‘These are just these small things that happen every day that then have a knock-on effect season after season.
‘I know people will say Paul Pogba won the World Cup, but Pogba’s talent means he should be classed in probably the top 10 players year in, year out, maybe going for the Ballon d’Or.
‘He’s going to be a player remembered for not basically fulfilling his potential.’
Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher were speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
