World NewsNeville: Liverpool Got What They Deserved |
Gary Neville has no sympathy for Liverpool after their Champions League exit this week.
The Anfield giants are still coming to terms with the certainty they will be consigned to Europa League combat next spring, having failed to emerge from a group Fiorentina and Lyon have taken control of.Yet the nature of the group system means Liverpool could end up with exactly the same number of points as United, who lost their 23-match unbeaten home record in the competition to Besiktas last night.
Indeed, the Red Devils could lose to Wolfsburg in Germany next month and still finish top of Group B if CSKA Moscow beat Besiktas to complete a three-way tie United will edge.
But Neville, part of a side that went out at the group stage themselves four seasons ago, feels Liverpool have simply not performed.
"As a team, you get what you deserve don't you?" he said.
"We are where we are because we deserve to be there and it's the same with Liverpool.
"We went out ourselves a few years back. They just haven't performed well enough in the Champions League to get the results."
Not that Neville is spending too much time gloating.
He understands United should have won last night given their dominance of possession.
Instead, Besiktas took the spoils thanks to Rodrigo Tello's first-half effort, the hosts' young strikeforce unable to fashion a reply despite carving out a succession of chances and Michael Owen failing to do any better when he was introduced late on.
"I am extremely disappointed," said Neville.
"We didn't convert our chances and didn't do enough in the last third.
"Their goal set us back a little bit. It gave them something to hang on to but usually we would expect to score a goal in 95 minutes at Old Trafford. We just didn't manage it."
Not that Neville viewed the contest as an opportunity wasted for the likes of Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck, a pair of strikers Sir Alex Ferguson believes have a very bright future.
"Some of the general play was good," observed Neville.
"Macheda and Welbeck did very well in the first half with their link-up play and we should have created more off that.
"I don't think the game was too big for the youngsters. Overall I thought they handled it really well. But we just needed that goal."
At least Neville was able to get some much-needed match action under his belt after being forced to complete a three-game suspension for his dismissal in the Carling Cup win at Barnsley.
There may still be some who feel the 34-year-old is not the force of old. But his experience is vital, especially in such a young starting line-up and with injuries placing major doubts over Jonny Evans and John O'Shea for Saturday's trip to Portsmouth, Neville is expected to keep his place at Fratton Park.
"I have been fit through the period I have been suspended so it has been frustrating," he said.
"I would have liked to come back into a winning team but we have to move on.
"We have a game on Saturday and we have to pick ourselves up and get a win there."
Copyright (c) 2009 Press Association
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