Gary Neville feels Manchester United players are currently ‘giving it their’ all, but that is his biggest worry as their best efforts are so far short of good enough.
The Red Devils lost 4-1 at Newcastle on Sunday, their 14th defeat of the Premier League season which saw them slip below Everton into 14th in the table.
The first half performance was decent and they went in at the break level at 1-1, but the Magpies dominated after the interval and romped to a comfortable victory.
It was another difficult afternoon for Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim although Neville had no complaints over the efforts of his players.
What is really concerning the Red Devils legend is that the quality being shown by his former club is of such a low level, despite their hard work.
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‘They’re not a very good team, simple as that,’ Neville told NBC Sports. ‘The biggest worry is that there have been teams in the past five, six, seven years at United where you’ve thought they are very talented players but they’re not really giving it their all.
‘The problem with this group of players is that they’re giving it their all, I don’t think there’s a lack of effort.
‘They’re so below the standard and quality that you need at that football club, all over the pitch. Other than Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo maybe, I can’t think of any of them that I’d hang my hat on.
‘It’s a really desperate situation because the squad is so poor in quality. They’ve got old players, they’ve got young players who are nowhere near it. Then they’ve got a group of players in the middle who are…it’s a worrying situation.’
Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation has come in for criticism as he struggles to make much of an impression at the club and Neville has concerns over the system.
Not so much over whether it can be effective, but more over how Manchester United will be able to recruit to fit Amorim’s preferred tactics.
‘The system is a problem because I’ve asked this question for about two months. Who are the natural wing-backs?’ Neville asked. ‘Players that are good enough going forward, that have got great energy, that are good enough going back? Who are those players?
‘Who are these two players that he plays behind the striker? The centre-forward who’s going to carry the line, who’s that player that’s available that’s going to go to Manchester United?
‘Because there’s seven or eight teams at the top of the league that need a striker. You’re not going to go to Manchester United in front of Liverpool or Arsenal or Chelsea, who need a striker.
‘There’s massive issues. Honestly, you don’t know where to start or where to build the first step from. There’s a serious amount of time and recruitment for that club to get right.’
It has been a bleak time in the Premier League for Manchester United fans and Neville does not think it will change any time soon.
‘On the basis that they recruit in four or five windows really well, it will be four or five years, but you’ve got to have four or five good windows to get back to the point where you can win the league,’ he said.
The Red Devils will look to keep their season alive when they host Lyon on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final having drawn 2-2 in France in the first contest.
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