Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes the Red Devils don’t play well enough as a team on a consistent basis. United have lost three out of the four matches in all competitions and they are in a spot of bother. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team lost their Saturday’s Premier League match against Aston Villa at Old Trafford after going down against West Ham United in the third round of Carabao Cup.
Neville, who is currently an analyst, feels United are playing well in patches and they need to pull their socks to be more consistent. The former right-back for United feels the Red Devils need to be more consistent to tick the right boxes.
Gary Neville said on the Sky Sports podcast, “I said it even when they were winning, even when Ronaldo scored, they don’t play well enough as a team to win this league in my view. They don’t play well enough as a team. I think you have to be a unit in and out of possession, and when you only deliver in moments, those moments won’t go for you in certain games”.
“You need patterns of play, you need a way of playing, and at this moment in time I still see a group of individuals playing in moments, with some patterns and combinations at times, but still a team where some are pretty new together – Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho – but they’ve got to come together as a team and start to define a style of play. Then you start to get results when you don’t play well”.
Neville, who spent his entire career at Manchester United, added that the clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are more consistent as they play more as a team as compared to United.
Neville added, “I look at Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City, they are teams. They put team performances in. That’s not to say United never does, but Ole now has to get United into a team”.
Neville added the pressure will be on Solskjaer to win a trophy in the 12-18 months as they have signed players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane, Jadaon Sancho and they will need to deliver a title with such a strong squad.
Neville concluded, “I said two weeks ago that the Ronaldo signing was make or break. That’s not me putting pressure on the players or manager, it’s a matter of fact. If you sign Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes, Ronaldo, Varane and Sancho, you’ve got to then win a trophy at some point in the next 12 to 18 months. This season or next, when Ronaldo is here, that’s why it’s a make or break signing. They have to win a trophy”.
