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Man United 'dodged bullet' by Conte decision as Neville jokes he should be forced to stay

talksport.com, 19 March 2023, 09:00
Manchester United fans and even former players were all thinking the same thing watching Antonio Conte's sensational savaging of Tottenham's players.

The Spurs boss laid into not only his players but his employers in astonishing fashion after a 3-3 draw with Southampton.

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Spurs had a 3-1 lead in the match at St Mary's but threw it away with 15 minutes to play, much to their manager's disgust.

"The problem is we have shown we are not a team. We are 11 players," he said.

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"I see selfish players. I see players that don't want to help each other, don't play with heart."

Conte then took aim at chairman Daniel Levy and owner Joe Lewis, as well as the players.

He continued: "It is the same every season, no matter who the manager is. They're used to it here.

"Don't play for something important. They don't want to play under pressure. They don't want to play under stress.

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"Tottenham's story is this. 20 years there is the owner and they never won something. Why?"

The Italian joined Spurs in early November 2021 and was seen as a huge coup with five league titles across Serie A and the Premier League.

Before returning to England, where he previously managed Chelsea, he'd been strongly linked with Manchester United as a replacement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

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That move never came to fruition though, with United sacking Solskjaer just weeks after Conte returned to London with Spurs.

Some suggested United may regret not acting sooner to change managers, with Ralf Rangnick's disastrous interim spell securing their worst-ever Premier League campaign.

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However, that meant they could sign Erik ten Hag from Ajax in the summer of 2022, with Gary Neville reminding Jamie Carragher that he was slated for not wanting Conte.

When reminded of that on Twitter, he said: "Oh I do I do."

Carragher then replied: "Yes you'd rather have kept that serial winner Ole! Then you wanted Poch not ETH, I told you ETH was the better choice but you wouldn't listen."

Neville replied: "Oh but we would have had what you and loads of United fans wanted. By the way ETH is fantastic but Poch is a great manager and would have been a lot better for United than your choice!!!"

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The former Manchester United defender then said: "Many saying Conte should go this morning. I'd keep him right where he is and make him do his job."

United fans also could not contain their delight at seeing Conte's meltdown.

One tweeted: "Waiting for Erik ten Hag and not hiring Conte despite pressure from the media and pundits when he was literally begging for the job, could be one of Man Utd's best decisions in recent years."

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Another added: "Tbh, I wanted Conte for us like many United fans, but that's because we were desperate at the time. Man I sleep well at night knowing that we got Erik ten Hag."

A third said: "Our fanbase genuinely wanted Antonio Conte over this man. Waiting out for Ten Hag may become one of the best decisions we've ever made as a footballing club."

And another summed up the mood by saying: "I thank the stars every day that we managed to get Ten Hag and dodged the Conte bullet when Ole got sacked."

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