Neville lip-reads Lammens telling Man Utd teammates he did not want the ball

Gary Neville claimed Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens told his own teammates not to pass the ball back to him during a shaky first half against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

The former United right-back, commentating on the match, said he had lip-read the 24-year-old Belgian urging his defenders to keep the ball away from him — and suggested there was a profanity involved. “Senne Lammens, that ball is getting back to him too much by the way, number one,” Neville said. “But number two, when it comes back to him, he’s looking like it’s a struggle in his mind. ‘I don’t want it’ he’s just said — I’m not a lip reader but there was a little f [swear word] in there as well.”

Lammens had a difficult opening 45 minutes with his distribution, and came close to gifting Spurs the opener before eventually clearing the danger. A misplaced pass to Kobbie Mainoo was cut out inside the first ten minutes, though Lammens partially redeemed himself by denying Dominic Solanke from close range shortly afterwards.

United were booed off at half-time by the Old Trafford crowd following a dour display on their return from the international break. Tottenham created several clear openings through Michael Carrick’s side but were unable to convert, with their wastefulness keeping the scoreline level at the break.

The performance marked an out-of-character display from Lammens, who had previously been reliable since stepping into the United squad. Neville’s observation underlined the visible anxiety the goalkeeper appeared to show under pressure from his own backline.