Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has highlighted a “concerning thing” for Ruben Amorim after Manchester United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at Old Trafford.
Manchester United are only seven points clear of the relegation zone, with the Red Devils currently 14th in the Premier League table after 19 league matches.
Ruben Amorim has now overseen three consecutive Premier League defeats in December alone after the Red Devils’ form fell off a cliff.
United have lost all four of their last four matches across all competitions, including making their exit from the Carabao Cup quarter-finals at the hands of Tottenham.
Amorim faces a tough test ahead of him in 2025, with United set to travel to Anfield for their Premier League showdown against Liverpool on Sunday.
Following the Liverpool match, the Red Devils will begin their FA Cup title defence with their third-round clash against Arsenal at the Emirates on 12th January.
United dropped three important Premier League points on Monday evening after a lacklustre performance against Newcastle at Old Trafford.
Neville compares Amorim’s Man Utd team
Alexander Isak opened the scoring against Manchester United five minutes into the Newcastle match before Joelinton doubled his side’s lead in the 19th minute.
United offered very little in response to Eddie Howe’s men and the Red Devils’ woeful form continued with their latest Premier League defeat.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville insisted that Ruben Amorim has inherited a worse United team than what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had at United.
United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was axed as head coach of the Red Devils in 2021 after a 4-1 Premier League away defeat to Watford.
“There’s no doubt it’s deteriorated performances and results in this last few weeks,” Neville said.
“They’re finding it very difficult, some of the players with the system, they’re finding it very difficult with the confidence, and the concern is that they’re getting dragged into a fight down there near the bottom, but they are at this moment in time, you keep thinking they’re going to hit a low point.
“I sent through that team this morning of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s last game in charge, and you think that they’re playing against Watford a few years ago, and you’re thinking that that Manchester United team, to be fair, is not good enough, we all accepted at the time it wasn’t good enough, but that was David de Gea in net, who’s a better goalkeeper than the one that Manchester United have currently got, it was [Victor] Lindelof, [Harry] Maguire, [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka and [Luke] Shaw, which is a better defensive line than the one that Manchester United have currently got.”
Neville highlights Man Utd difference
Amorim inherited a poorly performing United squad after he left Sporting CP in November and replaced Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout.
Erik ten Hag was dismissed in late October after United’s poor start to the 2024-25 Premier League campaign, with Amorim facing a massive challenge ahead of him.
Neville claimed that former United teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a much better frontline for his Red Devils team than what Amorim has right now.
“It was [Nemanja] Matic and [Scott] McTominay in midfield, which is not brilliant, but it’s better than Casemiro and [Christian] Eriksen, and it was [Jadon] Sancho, [Marcus] Rashford, Bruno [Fernandes] and [Cristiano] Ronaldo up front, which is a better forward line than the one that’s currently there,” he continued.
“So, that’s the concerning thing, when you feel that you’ve got to a point whereby the team can’t get any worse, and then you get further investment into the tune of £455m, and you see that this current team that’s played today, and at Wolves, I think that they’ve got a lot to do.”
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