Former Manchester United player Gary Neville has criticised the Red Devil’s recruitment since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, insisting that his former side have only made two successful signings over the past nine years.
The Old Trafford side have endured a poor start to the new season, losing both of their Premier League games under new manager Erik ten Hag. The losses have left them sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table after two games and Neville has blamed the club’s transfer as the reason for their struggles.
According to the Englishman, who analysed 33 signings that United have made since 2013 on Monday Night Football, there is a long-running issue at Old Trafford, .
When evaluating each of the players signed by the club since 2013, Neville split them into three categories – green (success), amber (borderline), and red (failure). The majority of the players fell into the failure category, with Neville admitting that players have struggled so badly at United over the years, making potential signings entertain doubts about joining the club in the first place.
“One of the problems Manchester United have had for 10 years is that they’ve flip-flopped between managers and strategies,” he said.
“That’s been a massive issue.
“We did a little exercise where we looked at major signings at the club over the last 10 years, removing players like third goalkeepers. We removed some of the younger players, but £1.25bn has been sent.
“We think there are only two signings, at this moment in time, that have been good value and have performed at a level. Bruno Fernandes has gone off the boil a bit but, because of the numbers he’s hit over two seasons, you have to say he worked – and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic has worked.
“Herrera, Shaw, Matic, Mata.
“Ronaldo would have been a green but because of what’s happened over the last month, with him wanting to leave and the confusion, the stories that have happened, that has to make him an amber. It might be because of their performance, value, price tag or just their behaviour.
“75 percent have not worked. 20 percent are amber. Only four or five percent have worked; that’s a horror show from a recruitment point of view.
“I know that there’s a big call for blaming the players and we’ve blamed the players a lot. I was excited about a lot of those signings, even last year with Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo – great signings. When Di Maria came, we thought, “this will be a signing.”
“But it’s become a graveyard for football players, this football club. Players are now even considering whether they want to come to the club; you can’t get players in.”
When considering the current transfer window where Manchester United have only managed to bring in three players, Neville argued that Erik ten Hag has not been given much support. The pundit shared his concerns that the former Ajax man does not have the tools to implement his style at Old Trafford.
However, has urged the Dutchman to stick to his principles when it comes to team selection in United’s next game at home to Liverpool.
“There’s got to be a question about who’s influencing recruitment. Ten Hag’s got to have an influence, of course, he has. But the Dutch league is not the most precise for this league in terms of transition.
“United will ride the wave over the next few months and get through this season, but they’re going to have to live through the rockiest times they’ve had to live through since they got relegated to Division Two 40-odd years ago.
“I’ve always said that managers bringing new values in at the start of the season shouldn’t give mixed messages to the players. Stick with what you’re doing, believe in it and, hopefully, you get the results. [You can’t] start changing every week – moving to a back five, moving to 4-3-3, then 4-4-2.
“However, he has to be pragmatic next Monday. That’s not about not playing out from the back, it’s just about the physicality of the players. He has to pick the players he trusts the most out on the pitch, who are going to get a result. That’s going to be extremely difficult,” Neville added.
