Manchester United legend Gary Neville has told Ruben Amorim three things he must improve to change the Red Devils’ “underdog” mentality.
Amorim has been confirmed as Erik ten Hag’s replacement after the Dutchman was sacked last Monday.
The Man Utd hierarchy extended Ten Hag’s contract by 12 months in the summer, overlooking the club’s worst finish in Premier League history following the FA Cup final victory against Manchester City.
Amorim swiftly emerged as the frontrunner for the Red Devils job and will not take over until November 11 due to a notice period in his Sporting contract.
That means assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy will be in charge against PAOK in the Europa League and Leicester City in the Premier League this week.
The Dutchman – who was brought back to Old Trafford by Ten Hag in the summer – managed Man Utd against Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday after overseeing a convincing 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester.
The Red Devils drew 1-1 against Chelsea in a game severely lacking quality.
Amorim has his work cut out for him but he will be delighted to have been passed on some tactical advice from former Valencia manager Neville.
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The club’s former right-back – who won three of 16 La Liga matches at Valencia – has three things he believes Amorim needs to improve, starting with the backline playing further up the pitch as the current mentality makes Man Utd “play like the underdog in games”.
“If you want to push your defence up the pitch, which is what I think every team looks to do nowadays, Amorim has got to start with that because Manchester United quite often have to travel 70, 80 yards to score a goal because they’re so deep and they play like the underdog in games,” Neville said on his podcast.
“The other metric was possession one in the final third.
“So possession won high up the pitch: first was Manchester City, second was Tottenham, third was Arsenal and fourth was Liverpool. Manchester United are ninth.
“The final one I asked for was the highest turnovers.
“City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal made up the top four while Manchester United were ninth. These three things are critical to performance levels.
“Man Utd played like a team that is sat behind the ball. ‘Let’s try and get them on the counter or score from a set piece’. That’s got to change.
“You’ve got to be a team of dominance. And I mean dominance. I mean dominating the ball in the final third, dominating your forwards and staying high up the pitch.”
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Scoring goals has been a real issue for Man Utd this season but interim boss Van Nistelrooy is adamant “the goals will come”.
He said: “[I think] today we are slightly disappointed because we didn’t score the second with the opportunities we had, that is the feeling for me personally and also in the dressing room,” began Ruud in his post-match media duties.
“In the last [few games] that we [have] played, we lost some points that we didn’t convert our chances. The good thing always is, and the way I think, when you create a lot all through the season so far, so in that sense I am not too worried.
“When the players are going to get in the flow of things are results coming, confidence growing, the goals will come.”
