Gary Neville mocks Chelsea over ‘almost cultish’ tactic ‘not conning anybody’ | OneFootball

Gary Neville has urged Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior to instruct his players to abandon their ‘ridiculous’ pre-match huddles, as they are ‘not conning anybody’ with their meaning.

Blues stars huddling around the ball before kick-off and the start of the second-half has become a regular occurrence since Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca in early January.

However, Saturday’s pre-match huddle led to crazy scenes, with referee Paul Tierney sandwiched in the middle of it as he stood over the ball waiting for kick-off.

Rosenior duly criticised Tierney for intervening in Chelsea’s pre-match ritual, but it’s the Stamford Bridge outfit who have been widely mocked for introducing the tactic in the first place.

And Man Utd legend Neville is not buying it one bit.

Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, he said: “I thought it was extremely odd, really weird. I’ve never been a fan of huddles.

“If you’ve prepared for seven months of a season, four days before the game and then you need a huddle 10 seconds before kick-off to talk and motivate each other, you’ve done something wrong in your preparation.

“No words can help you, in my opinion. I never did a huddle here [at Manchester United] in 20 years. No words should be able to help you a few seconds before a football match.

“You’ve done all your preparations. You’ve analysed the player you are playing against. You know how to create opportunities if you’re an attacking player.

“You’re in the changing room 10 minutes before you go out and you’ve said everything. What more can be said in a huddle out on the pitch?

“It’s just for show. Absolutely it’s just for show. It’s almost cultish. It’s to show fans we’re together but the fans won’t be conned by that. They will judge you on your performance.

“It won’t intimidate a good team. It didn’t intimidate Newcastle. It’s weird to do it in the centre of the pitch.

“It’s like ‘what’s the most gimmicky thing we can do to make people believe we have team spirit?’ It’s not conning anybody.

“I think it’s a nonsense. The whole thing is a nonsense. Stop doing it. I don’t get it at all, it really frustrates me.

“I can’t think of anything more ridiculous, I would stop it straightaway, nip it in the bud. I don’t get it, I don’t get it at all.”