Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has revealed that he has “no problem” with the decision that was made around two Manchester United players during the 3-1 Brentford defeat.
The Red Devils travelled to the Gtech Community Stadium for their final match of September and Brentford dominated Manchester United in the opening 20 minutes.
Keith Andrews’ men were 2-0 up against Ruben Amorim’s side early in the first half after Igor Thiago netted a stunning brace for Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
United were handed a lifeline against Brentford after Benjamin Sesko opened his goalscoring account for the Premier League club in the 26th minute.
The Red Devils were unable to climb back into the contest and Mathias Jensen ensured Brentford sealed all three points after his second-half injury-time strike.
Gary Neville claims Ruben Amorim is repeating the same mistake that Erik ten Hag made at Man Utd
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is now facing immense scrutiny after the Red Devils failed to make it back-to-back wins under his reign at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have been unable to pick up consecutive Premier League victories under Amorim since the former Sporting CP boss replaced Erik ten Hag in 2024.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville suggested that Amorim has fallen into the same trap as former United manager Erik ten Hag over rotating his backline.
“And the other thing that I’ve said and I said it under Ten Hag towards the end [of his Man Utd managerial career], he [Amorim] keeps changing his back four,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
“That’s what I used to say under Ten Hag because he didn’t play with the back five. Kept changing his back four, his centre-backs.”
Gary Neville’s damning verdict on Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire after Man Utd’s Premier League defeat to Brentford
Harry Maguire started as the central defender in the three-man backline of Amorim’s tactical system for United in the 3-1 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Joining former United captain Harry Maguire in the defence was Matthijs de Ligt on the right side and Luke Shaw was stationed as the left-sided centre-back.
United legend Neville insisted that “there was a shot” he spotted of Luke Shaw and Maguire when they were on the bench and he felt they both “deserved” to be there.
“I mean, Arsenal have changed their centre-backs today [against Newcastle], so I’m conscious it can happen,” he continued.
“But yesterday there was a shot of Shaw and Maguire on the bench. I think maybe five [or] 10 minutes from the end of the match.
“And they deserved to be on the bench, by the way. I’ve got no problem with that.”
Neville added: “But he [Amorim] changes his back three or his back five every single match.
“[Leny] Yoro comes on, Yoro comes off. Yoro starts, Yoro doesn’t start. De Ligt comes on, De Ligt comes off.
“Maguire comes off, Maguire stays on. Shaw usually stays on, but sometimes he comes off. [Diogo] Dalot’s off [and then] on.
“You cannot continually keep changing your back three and back five. It’s impossible.”
Maguire made way in the 66th minute for Kobbie Mainoo and Shaw was later withdrawn in the 81st minute for Mason Mount in the 3-1 Brentford defeat.
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