Gary Neville has always had his reservations about how much blame for Manchester United’s struggles can be apportioned to those well-publicised injury issues.
Erik ten Hag, at the start of March, protested that the Red Devils would have picked up around 14 more wins had they not been without so many key players throughout 2023/24.
And, OK, the Dutchman may have a point. Manchester United have been forced to limp along without a recognised left-back during almost the entirety of the campaign, while Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and more have also spent long spells on the sidelines.
But, then again, such an excuse wears a little thin when you consider that Man United were missing arguably only two of their best XI during Saturday’s dreadful 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. Yet another game in which United went head-to-head with a side they should really be beating, playing like minnows while making their opponents look like sharks.
Gary Neville shares Manchester United concerns
“The main thing is the performance levels and we’ve seen at Brentford, we’ve now seen at Bournemouth,” Neville tells Sky Sports. “They are really low performance levels, which is a worry.
“I know people point towards the injuries, and Manchester United have had a mountain of injuries. But I said the same against Liverpool (earlier in April). Nine of that team that started on Saturday would probably be in the starting XI if everyone was fit.
“(Andre) Onana, (Harry) Maguire, (Diogo) Dalot, Casemiro, (Kobbie) Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes and (Rasmus) Hojlund, (Alejandro) Garnacho and (Marcus) Rashford.
“Those are nine players who are Manchester United’s best players in those positions. You bring in Luke Shaw and you bring in (Lisandro) Martinez, and you can possibly argue between (Raphael) Varane and Maguire. But there’s nothing in it.
“They have had lots of injuries but at the moment there’s no excuses for the levels of the performances we’re seeing and every team has one or two players missing at certain points.”
Neville says it is bizarre how bad United are
Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur have suffered their own injury crises this term. But while the former remain ten points clear of a Man United side who have won just one in their last seven league games, Newcastle also overtook Ten Hag’s team into sixth.
This is, of course, not the first time a talented crop of players appear to have collapsed under a struggling manager, and even a man as insightful and experienced as Neville is struggling to explain why Ten Hag now finds himself in the same situation as Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prior to their Old Trafford departures.
“There’s nothing more to say we’ve seen it all before,” sighs the legendary right-back Neville. “It’s a repeat of what’s happened over the last six, seven, eight years with managers in their second or third seasons at Manchester United, where there seems to be that breakdown at the end.
“There’s no explanation for how they are playing. The anger, or disappointment has gone out of many Manchester United fans’ voices. We’ve got to a point where the FA Cup is a big thing.
“You’ve always said winning a trophy a season is a real achievement. But it is a bizarre experience watching Man Utd, how bad they can be in games.”
The hope is that, under INEOS, Man United’s ambitious new owners will usher in a long overdue era of accountability where mistakes are not there to be repeated but to be learned from.