Patrice Evra urges Manchester United players to do what Nemanja Vidic did after derby

Manchester United players must be honest with themselves like Nemanja Vidic used to be in order to bounce back from their defeat at Manchester City.

That's according to United great Patrice Evra, who pulled no punches as he said the players 'bottled' the trip to the Etihad Stadium. United went into Sunday's derby with confidence after beating Liverpool and Arsenal in a four-game winning streak but they were soon brought down to earth.

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks as the Blues hit their neighbours for six, with Anthony Martial's cameo the only positive for Erik ten Hag as his two goals saved his side some face. United must recover quickly with a crucial month of fixtures still to come in October and Evra says the players should follow the example of his former teammate Vidic.

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"The players have to be honest with themselves, their teammates, the manager and say they were scared and they bottled it," he told Betfair. "They didn't believe in the plan and they should admit it. Afterwards, the manager will know which players he can go to war with again.

"It's fine to admit it. I remember Vidic wasn't having great performances, he went to see Ferguson and said that he needs to train more because he wasn't at his usual level, then he didn't play a few games and Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling played. But, he had that honesty and this is Nemanja Vidic I'm talking about. So, they just have to be honest and then they can get over it.

"If nobody is honest with themselves after this game we are in big trouble. If they start to find excuses, I'll be worried that we'll be right back to where we were at the start of the season. It's all about