Gary Neville issued an apology for being ‘boring’ and ‘drab’ on co-commentary during Manchester United’s goalless draw with Manchester City. The former defender says he allowed the tedious nature of the game to affect his own performance in the television gantry.

United’s Premier League draw with rivals City will certainly not go down as a classic. The game lacked intensity, clear chances and key moments. Neville believed none of the players were disappointed with a draw and criticised both teams for their performances. However, he then apologised for his own co-commentary for Sky Sports, admitting that his feelings about the game got the better of him.

Neville told Sky Sports: “I don’t think there was one player who walked off that pitch disappointed about drawing 0-0, from either side. They all walked off sort of thinking, ‘We’re okay here, got away without making a mistake’. It was that type of game.

“It was really disappointing. I apologise for my co-commentary actually, I think I let it get to me. I was boring on there as well. That was drab as well.

“I get what he (United boss Ruben Amorim) is saying about it being that stage of the season, United and City are in a difficult moment. But this robotic nature of [players] not leaving positions and being micro-managed within an inch of their lives, of not having any freedom to take a risk and try to win a football match, is becoming an illness in the game. It’s a disease in the game.

“Ultimately, you think of Pep Guardiola over the years and that’s what his teams do. We’re seeing poor imitations of that across the board now. United’s goalkeeper rolling his foot over the ball and waiting for things to happen – that’s not it. That’s not what this club is, it’s not what we do here.

“Liverpool don’t do that. You’ve got to be a top team with tempo in your play, rhythm in your play, get the ball moving, shift it quickly. From a United perspective, I get why he (Amorim) has gone deep, back into a structure, he called it a low block. But that’s what we’ve seen [at United] from Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag. They’ve all come in with the intention of playing high-press, high-energy football, but always go back to playing in a low block in big games.”

United, who managed only two shots on target to City’s six, remain 13th in the Premier League. City’s failure to claim three points mean Chelsea still have the advantage in the battle for fourth place, sitting a point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s fifth-placed side.