Former Manchester United full-back Gary Neville has admitted that he was "stunned" by Jose Mourinho's criticism of his players following Saturday's shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Huddersfield Town.
The Terriers pulled off one of the greatest results in the club's recent history at the John Smith's Stadium, after which Mourinho launched a scathing attack on his players' attitude following comments by midfielder Ander Herrera.
The defeat was United's first of the season, and Neville expressed the importance of bouncing back when they welcome an in-form Tottenham Hotspur side to Old Trafford next weekend.
"I thought it would be tough for United because of the atmosphere but I also thought they'd come through it. I was stunned by the result. I was stunned also by Jose Mourinho's comments afterwards about the application of the players, saying it was the worst he's seen them up for the game," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
"It was a big shock and bad goals to concede. [Victor] Lindelof made a couple of poor mistakes. I think if the other team does something brilliant you can recover from it but you don't give yourself a chance if you're making poor mistakes. When your goalkeeper, defenders are making poor mistakes, the anxiety runs not only into the team but into the crows. It's a bad loss. Saturday is now a huge game for United to get back on their bike after falling off.
"They're playing against a Tottenham side with great confidence. The one thing I would say is that probably the worst time I've seen Mauricio Pochettino's team was at Old Trafford last season so it will be interesting to see them, having gone to the Bernabeu and changed their fortunes around at Wembley. If Tottenham play anything like they did [against Liverpool], Manchester United will have to be at their best - they can't be below."
Spurs are now level on points with United, both trailing Premier League leaders Manchester City by five points.
Barney Corkhill
