Gary Neville in brutal attack on Yaya Toure's 'complete dereliction of duty'

Toure was in a City midfield which was overrun by United, with the likes of Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini dominating the Ivorian and his team-mates.

Toure's powerful displays have been key to City's success in recent seasons, but Neville said the 31-year-old had become a liability against top sides.

Neville was quick to tear into Toure after his insipid performance during Sky Sports' coverage of the weekend's big match.

"He cannot play in a two in midfield against any team of quality," the former United full-back said on Sky Sports 1.

He added: "Before the game, I asked, 'Is Yaya Toure able to match Fellaini in that pocket?' He didn't. He paid no attention to him at all. It was a complete dereliction of duty.

"Against maybe one of the lesser teams at home you can put him in there and play with two up top, but against any team of quality you've got to shift him out of that position in the centre of midfield.

"There are too many examples, too much evidence when watching him where he cannot do his job, simple as that. As a central midfield player in the big matches he just cannot do it."

Neville went on to use an analogy of 'weeds in the garden', appearing to single out Toure as an example of the 'weeds' currently at the Etihad.

"There is definitely going to be change at Manchester City, whether it's players, the manager, people above - certainly some players," he said.

"There are some weeds in the garden and you've got to get them out of the changing room pretty quick. You cannot carry passengers.

"He does that much for the team in an attacking sense you live with maybe the consequences of that defensively," he continued.

"But when the balance tips to a point when going forward isn't quite as effective as it once was, you've got to do something different because the defensive side is poor.

"If I was a player in that dressing room looking at him in central midfield thinking 'you're not chasing back, you're not running around, you're not sprinting for the ball'.

"There might be a physical problem that he cannot do it, let alone if he doesn't want to do it. I think there's definitely going to be some changes."

As harsh as all of this sounds, it's pretty hard to disagree with Neville. This season, Toure has been a shadow of himself and his performance on Sunday certainly did leave a lot to be desired. It is common knowledge that he has been through some tough setbacks off the field over the last two years, but he cut a disconsolate figure on the field again. City looked to him to inspire a second-half comeback after he was handed the captain's armband from Vincent Kompany, but his dejected body language and reluctance to chase back and help his side defensively frustrated many fans. His quality is undoubted, but this has been a season to forget.