“Should be doing a lot better”: Neville launches bizarre tirade against four United stars in spite of uptick in form

Manchester United find themselves in eighth position in the league table at the start of November. Positive start Nonetheless, after a challenging start, the Red Devils are only two points behind second placed Manchester City. In fact, Ruben Amorim’s side have collected 10 points from 12, including impressive victories over tough opponents like Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion. Whilst the side have been far from perfect, they have shown more determination and attacking ability in recent weeks than in the last two seasons in a marked improvement. Gary Neville criticism This has still not been enough to impress former United man Gary Neville though. The pundit laid into the role of four of the Red Devils’ most experienced players. Commenting on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show (via The Independent) he voiced concerns over the current spine of the side. Neville elaborated, “I think your spine of a football team is critical. When I first came into Man United, our spine was (Peter) Schmeichel, (Steve) Bruce, (Gary) Pallister, (Roy) Keane and (Eric) Cantona and so we were all scattered around it.” The former England international then turned his fire on two of United’s centre backs, Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire. He added, “I think Maguire and (Matthijs) De Ligt should be doing a lot better than they are. You know, you look at the experience that those two have got.” The criticism seems harsh when De Ligt has been widely regarded as one of United’s best players this season with a range of all-action, consistent performers. Moreover, Maguire has also scored the winner at Anfield and for the most part, played at a higher level than recent years. Neville then turned his fire on the midfield duo of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes. He explained, “you’ve got the midfield, Casemiro and Bruno have got massive experience. But to me, that spine of Bruno Fernandes (31), Casemiro (33), Maguire (32) and De Ligt (26) is ageing, but should be doing a lot better at holding it all together than they do.” Whilst most United fans are aware that the midfield needs to be improved upon in upcoming windows, once again Casemiro is currently enjoying one of his better periods of form for the Red Devils in recent years, so the criticism seems particularly harsh at this moment. – The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.