Gary Neville delivers verdict on Man United’s Premier League title hopes
Gary Neville runs the rule over Man United's Premier League title hopes after their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa at the weekend
Gary Neville believes that Manchester United’s failure to play well “as a team” means that they will not be able to win the Premier League title this season.
The Red Devils suffered a blow to their title hopes on Saturday when they were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa at Old Trafford, with Kortney Hause netting a late winner for the visitors.
Manchester United squandered the chance to equalise in stoppage time when Bruno Fernandes missed his penalty as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men slumped to their first Premier League defeat of the season.
The Red Devils’ defeat means that they are now level on points with Manchester City, Chelsea FC and Everton in the Premier League table – with all four teams a point behind leaders Liverpool FC.
Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score against the Villains on Saturday, marking the first top-flight game in which the Portugal international has not found the net since his return to the club in the summer.
Former Manchester United star Neville feels that the Red Devils are lacking cohesion as a team, and he feels that this will undermine their hopes of winning a first Premier League title since 2013 this season.
Speaking on his podcast with Sky Sports, Neville said: “I said it even when they were winning, even when [Cristiano] 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.”
He continued: “I have called them the odd bunch, because I still look at them and think of them as a team who win games in moments.
“I look at Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City – they are teams. They put team performances in. That’s not to say United never do, but Ole now has to get United into a team.”
The Red Devils have conceded more goals than any of the other teams in the top four as things stand – and they will be keen to shore things up at the back as the season progresses.
Manchester United’s next Premier League game is a home clash against Everton on Saturday.
Before that, the Red Devils are back in Champions League action with a home fixture against Villarreal on Wednesday night.
