Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has been reflecting on another difficult weekend for the Red Devils.
In isolation, a 1-0 defeat for Manchester United against Newcastle was a narrow loss to a rival. In the bigger picture, it was a repeated pattern, with Erik ten Hag failing to win away from home against any team in the top eight of the Premier League since he took over in summer 2022.
Manchester United end the weekend in seventh position. This is the same position the team finished in at the end of David Moyes first season, which saw him fired. This neatly sums up how it feels like United are stuck in a cycle of failure.
This was a concept Gary Neville reflected on in his weekend wrap for Sky Sports, which saw him comment, “I’m tired of my own club.”
Gary Neville says he was frustrated by Manchester United’s lack of control against Newcastle, a typical away performance against a top side under Erik ten Hag.
He concedes the poor performances are partly to pin on the players, noting that previous managers have also struggled.
Neville says that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, he considers that only Louis van Gaal managed to leave an imprint stylistically on the team. He was fired in 2016, a decision made before he won the FA Cup.
He also says that excuses are running out for Erik ten Hag, considering the money he has spent, and the relative successes he has seen elsewhere in the Premier League.
Neville explained: “There’s only Louis van Gaal since Sir Alex Ferguson that’s been able to implement a style of play at the club. Every other manager, whether it be Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, David Moyes was there for a short period, and now Erik ten Hag has been there for 18 months [has not].
“What really damages the likes of Erik ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho, they’ve all spent £300-400 million quid, but De Zerbi at Brighton, Postecoglou at Spurs, and others like them have come in and in three to four months they’ve got them playing like Real Madrid.
“That’s the problem they’ve got. It’s been shown that you can come in and have an impact on players, patterns of play, style, in three to four months.
“We are still sat here eight years after Louis van Gaal leaves and haven’t seen a pattern of play, a combination that you see repeatedly, where the players on the pitch know where their next pass is.”
At the weekend an injury-hit Tottenham went toe to toe with Manchester City, pulling off a 3-3 draw at The Etihad. You would not fancy Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United to play with the same type of spirit or style right now. It would be a replay of the many away games where United just get overpowered and lose their way.
The Louis van Gaal era wasn’t pretty, generally speaking. He threw caution to the wind in his last few months, but it was not an enjoyable spell, so there’s a little revisionism in Neville’s words. In fact, he is on record at Sky Sports in 2019 saying: “Van Gaal’s football at Man United was the worst I’ve ever seen.”
However, he’s not wrong that Manchester United have struggled to build anything solid or sustainable since he left, despite some bright moments which gave reason for optimism, and were not capitalised on.
Neville is at a loss to explain United problems
Neville continued: “I can’t tell you in the last eight years, and that’s why I’m not just including Erik ten Hag, I can’t tell you Manchester United’s style of play.
“I don’t know why that is. They are all not bad managers, they are good managers, they have had real success at other clubs, maybe not Ole as much, [who] came in a little differently. Erik ten Hag at Ajax created the most beautiful football but he comes to Old Trafford and spends a lot of money, it’s like he’s incapable of implementing that style of play.”
Neville added that while he will always build his free time around watching Manchester United, because he gets sucked back in through sheer optimism, right now he is finding it difficult to be positive. He also backed up comments from Paul Scholes who questioned the chaos that is the team’s midfield from week to week.
He added: “I don’t want to do their games anymore, I don’t want to watch their games anymore, and that is the saddest indictment of your football club.
“I’m already fearing what’s going to happen at Anfield in two weeks. It could be a mess. I’m already fearing whats’ going to happen Wednesday night against Chelsea, because it could be a mess. There’s no confidence, they’ve lost our confidence.”