Gary Neville has singled out Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim for criticism over his “embarrassing” tactics during their 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.
The Red Devils are having an awful season with performances and results even worse under Ruben Amorim than his predecessor Erik ten Hag, who he replaced in November.
Amorim has now managed just four wins in his first 15 Premier League matches as Man Utd boss with the Red Devils dropping to 15th in the table over the weekend.
A James Maddison close-range strike in the first half saw Tottenham grab all three points and move above Man Utd in the Premier League table on Sunday.
The players at Amorim’s disposal have struggled to embrace the Portuguese coach’s style of play with Man Utd unable to give him much help in the January window, with Patrick Dorgu the only incoming.
And Neville hit out at Amorim’s tactics against Tottenham with the Man Utd legend picking out the “gaps in that midfield” as a particular cause for concern and insisted it wouldn’t be seen in kids football.
Neville said on Sky Sports commentary: “We just said about the distance between the two central midfield players. Look at where Casemiro is and where Bruno Fernandes is. That cannot be right. It breaks all rules in football. Look at them – absolute madness, that.
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“They may score goals but the structure of the team is awful. The gaps in that midfield, that’s a tactical thing – they’ve been told to do that. Bruno Fernandes is playing right wing. It’s embarrassing.
“You wouldn’t see this in under-9s or under-10s football. There’s a reason for it. It’s because of what [Joshua] Zirkzee did against Newcastle when he kept having to come out to one side. What Amorim said is, ‘You stay in there’. But that means then it’s impossible for them two behind… that space in midfield there. It’s shocking.”
It’s clear that Amorim will be sticking to his philosophy no matter what with the Man Utd head coach insisting he doesn’t have all the players available to get the best out of his system.
Speaking after the loss against Spurs, Amorim said: “You start with one idea. We were asking about a long week for so long. And we worked our principles but day after day, you lose players that change your approach to the game.
“I could not play the same way with Joshua [Zirkzee] as I can with Amad. Sometimes you want Bruno [Fernandes] to reach the ball in the build-up because he’s really good switching the play. But then you want Bruno also to press and it’s really hard. And when you are changing all the time to get the players to react to the base, it’s really hard.
“4-4-2 in the low block is harder to play against this team than what we did today, that’s my opinion. They are so open and stretch the team. What you see guys and what you discuss every week, I also see. I have a lot of problems, my job is so, so hard here. But I stick with my beliefs.”
