Despite Anfield hosting its third largest league crowd ever, Gary Neville said it was “the quietest” crowd he’s ever seen there against Man United.
Although the Liverpool fans were initially up for the game, the drab quality on the pitch was among a myriad of factors that saw many of the 57,158 in attendance fail to create an atmosphere that Neville approved of.
While the pundit is a Man United fan and legend, he has been known to praise Anfield’s atmosphere, but on Sky he described the game as “the worst” he’s “seen Anfield ever in a Liverpool [vs.] Man United fixture.”
The match started and Anfield was “noticeably louder” according to journalist David Lynch. However, as the first half progressed, the noise died down and never reached the heights we know it can.
“The atmosphere was the worst I’ve seen Anfield ever!”@GNev2 was surprised it was a draw at Anfield but believes Liverpool fans were overconfident ? pic.twitter.com/GeIi6MadO9
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 17, 2023
After the match, Neville said: “I’ve always been complimentary of Liverpool fans. It’s the biggest crowd they’ve had here in 60 or 70 years (60 years is accurate), but it’s the quietest crowd I’ve seen in this game.
“I don’t know what was up with them today. I think there was maybe a little bit of overconfidence before the game – people wearing Christmas jumpers with 7-0 on and stuff like that,” he said while looking at the guilty Jamie Carragher who couldn’t resist a laugh.
“When you’re in that sort of feeling all week; some of the players have been left behind off the European trip; all the noise about how Manchester United are going to get destroyed at Anfield – it just sometimes maybe seeps into you a little bit.
“Maybe a little bit of that [gets] into the crowd.”
It is clear that the Anfield atmosphere isn’t at its best at the moment, and why is a massive debate for another time, but the team’s uninspiring performance after the first 20 minutes was hardly helpful.
With a tough League Cup quarter-final against West Ham, and a crucial Premier League game against Arsenal, both the players and supporters need to ensure they’re on top of their game this week.
