Former Man United player Gary Neville has dug deeply into the Manchester club, leveling the criticism at them that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side ‘are nowhere near good enough’ and are unable to cope against any ‘half decent’ team.
The SkySports pundit was particularly stinging in his criticism after United were beaten 4-2 by Leicester on Saturday, and the former Old Trafford defender lamented the lack of organisation in the team. Neville also highlighted that the team are extremely weak in terms of pressing the opposition.
“The team performances have been so shoddy all season. There have been some great goals but the overall performances have been shoddy.
“It’s been scrappy and scruffy to watch, so when you play against a team that’s got an organization to them, a methodology, you’re going to get pulled apart and that’s what happening. They got pulled apart by Everton, pulled apart by Villa, pulled apart by Villarreal. Today, Leicester, half decent team, good team.
“They’re nowhere near good enough out of possession, they’re the weakest out of those at the top of the league without a shadow of a doubt in terms of general pressing – they don’t press.”
The sense of disappointment is made more acute as the high-profile return of Cristiano Ronaldo and the other major signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane do not seem to have aided United as they continue to struggle for consistency, having also lost so far even this early in the season to Young Boys, West Ham and Aston Villa, while drawing against Everton and Southampton besides this latest loss to Leicester.
Neville also noted the imbalance in some of Solskjaer’s team selections, citing Leicester, for example, where he felt that the Norwegian had assembled a team lopsided with too many creative or attacking players, hence leaving the defense vulnerable and clearly exposed.
He said: “We’ve seen the team that’s been picked today (at Leicester) with Greenwood, Sancho, Ronaldo, Pogba and Fernandes in. Five of them. I wouldn’t want to be a defender in that team.”
Despite having been in charge of United for almost three years now, Solskjaer is still struggling to win a trophy, and Neville is adamant that pressure will now start to pile up on the Norwegian.
“100 per cent, the pressure will build on the manager, the pressure will build on the players.
“They won’t do anything with the manager, ultimately the club are stable in that respect of what’s happened in the last 10 years, they recognise they’re going to go through these moments.”
United had surged into the lead against Leicester through a brilliant goal from Mason Greenwood, but Youri Tielemans equalized before Caglar Soyuncu sent the Foxes ahead in the second half.
Marcus Rashford, coming on as a substitute, leveled for the Red Devils who were unable eventually to stop Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka from scoring for Leicester.
United’s next fixture will be at home to Atalanta in the Champions League before they host Liverpool in the Premier League next weekend in a game where there will be increased, intense scrutiny of Solskjaer and his side.