Gary Neville says Sir Alex Ferguson 'would never have done' what Pep Guardiola did against Burnley

Gary Neville claims Sir Alex Ferguson "would never have done" what Pep Guardiola did in Manchester City's 3-0 win over Burnley.

The treble-winners started the new Premier League season with a comfortable win courtesy of a first-half Erling Haaland brace and a strike from Champions League final hero Rodri in the second half.

After a goalless spell at the end of a record-breaking debut season last term, Haaland took just four minutes to get off the mark for the campaign.

And he doubled his tally with a sublime strike in off the bar from a Julian Alvarez lay-off in the 36th minute.

But at half-time Haaland was involved in a furious row with manager Pep Guardiola, who grabbed the Norwegian's arm and was heard telling him, "With one minute left we had to make long balls, completely opposite, it's the right tempo right now."

Guardiola also pushed the camera away and told the operator to "go away".

It's not the first time that perfectionist Guardiola has been so intense with one of his players but United legend Neville believes it showed a stark difference between he and Sir Alex Ferguson, who he believes would have done it in the dressing room rather than publicly.

Image: Getty

"There’ll be some people who’ll love the intensity of that and say that that’s why he’s the best manager on the planet," Neville said on Sky Sports.

"Then there’ll be others who will say that you shouldn’t do that in a public forum, grabbing his arm in front of the cameras.

"I played for one of the most intense managers in the history of the game - but he’d never have done that on the pitch in such a way."

Haaland exited the game late before he could get a hat-trick but explained the argument was down to him fuming at Bernardo Silva for not putting a ball in behind for him to chase.

"That incident was from the last action, because I got a bit mad at Bernardo [Silva] for not playing me in so he got a bit angry with me! But no, it’s a good start for the first game," he told Sky Sports.

Image: Getty

Guardiola also addresses the incident, commenting: "He wants all the time ball to him, ball to him. He wants the ball in behind. Erling wanted that ball and Bernardo was right not to give it to him. He scored two goals, I think he's happy."

City take part in their first ever UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla in Athens on Wednesday but will be without talisman Kevin De Bruyne, who Guardiola expects to be "out for a while" after suffering the same hamstring injury which forced him off early on in the Champions League final.

Topics: Gary Neville, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester City, Manchester United, Burnley, Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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