Gary Neville compares Jose Mourinho to Floyd Mayweather as he praises Manchester United's defence

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free

Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Gary Neville has compared Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, given that their defence-first approach draws unfair criticism given that it produces success.

Despite watching his United side beat Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday, Mourinho still had to answer claims that he deployed negative tactics, although the accusations stemmed largely from the display against Liverpool earlier in the month.

Mourinho appeared to respond to this criticism by making a shushing gesture to television cameras upon the final whistle of the win over Spurs, and he confirmed afterwards that the act was aimed at his critics in an attempt to stop them from speaking negatively about his team and players.

It’s something that former United defender Neville agreed with, and he praised United’s performance and made special note of their defensive discipline and togetherness, which he believes echoes the approach taken by pound-for-pound king Mayweather, who has made a career out of utilising defensive and counter-attacking tactics throughout his 50-0 boxing career.

“Mauricio Pochettino and Jürgen Klopp have got wonderful reputations for being attacking coaches. But Mourinho is a little bit like Mayweather at times,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “Mayweather is called boring at times, where he uses defence as a weapon, let's people punch themselves out.

“Jürgen Klopp in that game a few weeks ago didn't feel he could fully go for it, because he felt: 'He's going to do me, I don't want to get done by a Mourinho masterclass.' And I think Tottenham lacked the belief to go for it on Saturday.

“I think he gets into [the coaches'] heads, and has them thinking: ‘I can't get done on the counter-attack here, he'll do me’. And that's a great coach, to think he can have other coaches spoiling their tactics. So in some ways I think he does deserve more respect, his record is unbelievable.”

The victory maintained United’s unbeaten start at home this season, and their run of matches at Old Trafford without defeat now stands at 25 games when taking last season into account – a streak that stretches back to the 2-1 loss to Manchester City on 10 September 2016.

However, there is a degree of unease at Old Trafford regardless of the results, as fans weigh up the prospect of adjusting to this new style as opposed to the fabled ‘Manchester United way’ that was deployed by past managers Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Neville addressed those concerns, and while he figured under Ferguson for the duration of his own career, the former England international admitted that United supporters should be willing to sacrifice the style given that they have not won the Premier League title since Ferguson retired in 2013.

“I think it's a problem in the long-term, but I think at the moment Manchester United need a cold, hard winner,” Neville added. “If you ask United fans, they're emotional about how to play the game. They expect attack at all costs, they sing: 'Attack, attack, attack!' They want waves of attacks, sustained attacks. They don't expect you to drop off, retreat, they expect you, if you like, to almost die trying.

“My personal view is he [Mourinho] has come in to win the league. He's got to win the league. The club hasn't won the league for a few years. I have to say they've scored 15 goals in five games at Old Trafford, and the games I've been to have been exciting, they've played well. Saturday was a really good performance; I actually thought it was a good game, a bit of a struggle, as big games should be.

“We tear strips out of defences constantly when they make mistakes – the Liverpool performance at Spurs recently we said was ridiculous – but actually this is really good defending to get this group of players, top players, to get back goal side, get into good defensive shape. It's a resilience, a toughness that United have now got. They're hard to beat, you very rarely see them exposed. That's a robustness, a spirit.”