Man Utd: ‘They are not a very good team’ – Gary Neville and Roy Keane deliver verdict on ‘desperate situation’ | Football Newsnews24

Gary Neville says Manchester United are in a “desperate situation” after Ruben Amorim’s side were thumped 4-1 by Newcastle on Sunday.

United capitulated in the second half at St James’ Park as they suffered a 14th Premier League defeat of the season, Harvey Barnes struck twice after Alejandro Garnacho had cancelled out Sandro Tonali’s opener, with Bruno Guimaraes’ late goal adding to United’s woes.

The defeat leaves Man Utd 14th in the table, just three points above West Ham in 17th, and they are guaranteed to finish with their lowest ever points tally in the Premier League.

Sky Sports‘ Neville, speaking on NBC Sports, delivered a brutal verdict on the current United squad, saying there is no shortage of effort from the players but that they are “so below the standard and quality” required at Manchester United.

“I said at the start of the game that if Newcastle play well, Man Utd will get beat,” Neville said.

“They are not a very good team, it’s as simple as that.

“The biggest worry is that there have been teams in the last five, six, seven years at Man Utd where you’ve thought they are every talented players, but they aren’t giving it their all.

“The problem with this group of players they are giving it their all. There isn’t a lack of effort. They are so below the standard and quality you need at that football club, all over the pitch.

“Apart from 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 and they’ve got young players who are nowhere near it. It’s a worrying situation.”

‘The system is a problem’

Neville also went on to question Amorim’s system, suggesting Man Utd currently do not have the players required to play how their Portuguese boss wants, and he does not see how that changes any time soon without time and better recruitment.

Neville added: “The system is a problem.

“I’ve asked this question for about two months, who are the natural wing backs? Players that are good going forward, that have great energy and that are good enough going back. Who are those players?

“Who are these two players he plays in behind the striker? They need a centre-forward who is going to carry the line. Who is that player that is available who is going to go to Man Utd because there are seven or eight teams at the top of the league who ned a striker too. You aren’t going to Man Utd over Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal, who also need strikers.

“The are massive issues.”

“Honestly, you don’t know where to start, you don’t know where to build the first step from, and that’s the problem at the moment.

“There’s a serious amount of time required and good recruitment for that club to get right.”

Keane: Man Utd are not really good at anything

Roy Keane also pulled no punches on Super Sunday, yet his summary was simple when he assessed United’s performance at St James’ Park.

“You look at certain teams at the Premier League and you hang your hat on certain things – they’re big and strong or they’re technically brilliant. You look at Liverpool, they tick a lot of boxes,” he said.

“But you look at United, what would you hang your hat on? What would you say they’re really, really good at? They’ve not got a world-class striker, they haven’t got a strong spine, they’re not athletic.

“I’m not sure what they’re good at. They’re not really good at anything. They’ve got some half-decent players, but the table doesn’t lie.”

Keane suggested signing players without Premier League experience had not served United well.

“I don’t want to use the dreaded word: recruitment. Do they get players in this summer?” he continued.

“The majority of players they’ve brought in over the last year or two aren’t used to the Premier League. You have to get some players who are used to the Premier League, who’ve played 100, 200 games.

“You hope you’re getting quality players into United, the money they’ve spent, but getting the right characters; Liverpool look at it, Brentford, Bournemouth. Obviously they’ve got to be able to play and play at the highest level, but this group don’t show that.

“They’re not robust. They don’t roll their sleeves up and dig out results.

“Every now and again they do, and they’ll pick up a good result like they did at Man City and they got a draw at Liverpool. But then other teams recently go to Old Trafford, every team’s getting a bit of joy. Against Newcastle in the second half, there were just gaps everywhere. They’re running through United. United don’t even look big and strong.”