Gary Neville was called out by Jamie Carragher for changing his prediction on Manchester United after the loss to Hull City. Michael Carrick's side endured a humiliating 2-0 away loss to Hull City in their Premier League opener.
Neville's Changing Predictions
It was only Carrick's second defeat as manager of United but it sent out plenty of alarm bells, particularly after another heavy summer of spending. Neville has since stated United must purchase some more defenders after they were easily beaten in both of Hull's goals, which came from set-pieces.
When asked about United's hopes for this season, Neville claimed he is struggling to separate Carrick's side and Liverpool, who were seconds away to losing their opening match to Newcastle United. This viewpoint was slammed by Carragher, who claimed Neville was a lot more confident about the Reds before the loss to Hull City.
Carragher's Response
When pressed to pick between the two Premier League heavyweights, Neville said: "Look, do you want me to be honest? I can't separate United and Liverpool in fourth place."
Carragher swiftly hit back: "I've heard you've changed it four times over the weekend. So after United played, he changed it to Liverpool. Liverpool played and he changed it to United."
Neville then responded: "A couple of weeks ago, I had United in third. I didn't have Chelsea where they were, but as you sort of get nearer to the season, you start to look at the squads and you start to think about it.
"You think about Chelsea and the fact they've got no European football. That'll give them a big edge. I think City are in a better position than United. Look, at the moment, I'm not convinced by United or Liverpool, really, but I do think they'll finish fourth and fifth."
Carrick's Response
Asked to commit to a firm prediction, Neville named Arsenal as his Premier League champions, with Chelsea as runners-up, followed by City and United. Carrick will still have plenty of belief in his side, having made that clear in his post-match media duties at the MKM Stadium.
He said: "It's one game. It's the first game of the season so it's disappointing enough and it hurts, of course it does. But it's one game, it doesn't change the whole course of the direction the team or the football club is going in. We'll stay calm, stay in the bubble and focus on next week."
He added: "We're not happy at all. I'm not happy we've lost the game. So it's not let's move on and everything's okay. There's a difference, I think.
"But the assessment of it, of keeping our composure and understanding where we want to get to, and how we want to improve, I think that's important to think clearly."
"But it certainly doesn't make it any easier in terms of dealing with the disappointment and the hurt that we all feel right now."
