Hannibal Mejbri has seemingly responded to those criticising him for the way he played against Liverpool on Tuesday after being introduced from the substitutes bench late on in the game.
The Manchester United midfielder certainly let his Liverpool counterparts know he was there, with plenty of forceful challenges and fouls conceded. The Tunisian international caught Jordan Henderson with a particularly overzealous tackle that appeared to anger the England international.
While the Reds may have not been best pleased, Hannibal quickly endeared himself to the United faithful as a result of his tough-tackling, no-nonsense approach. Former United defender Gary Neville admitted that he was "proud" of the midfielder while on commentary duty.
He doubled down on that claim while speaking on his post-match podcast, explaining: "That kid came on and he showed something. He reminded me of Nobby Stiles and of Eric Harrison and the basic principles of being a football player.
"Compete, win your duels, fight for every ball and there’s only one kid who came on and demonstrated that he had the heart and the soul to play for Manchester United Football Club - him."
Hannibal's latest Instagram post would suggest he hardly regrets his physical approach once he was introduced by United's interim boss Ralf Rangnick. The 19-year-old wrote: "Always an honour to wear this shirt. Always ready to fight for this badge."
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The teenage talent has already been capped 12 times for his country and even featured in this year's Africa Cup of Nations. His latest United cameo also received plaudits from another former Red Devil in Antonio Valencia.
"Today I feel proud of this boy," the Ecuadorian said on Twitter. It was a similar assessment to the one Neville made after the game. The former England international explained what he meant: "When I said that the kid [Mejbri] to be fair I was proud of him because he was going around trying to top people and trying to kick people. But he demonstrated something, he showed something."
The fact that Hannibal took objection to the idea of Liverpool players passing and showboating around him is a positive in the eyes of the United fanbase. The same cannot be said for the majority of his teammates, who for large portions of the clash failed to lay a glove on their hosts.
