Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has thrown the gauntlet down to the current crop of players at Old Trafford with Ruben Amorim’s side suffering a disastrous season up to this point.
United’s last outing secured safe passage through to the FA Cup fifth round and are still active in the Europe League. However, their lowly position of 13th in the Premier League underlines the woeful form shown throughout the campaign.
Speaking exclusively to The Peoples Person courtesy of Instant Casino, Parker didn’t hold back in his assessment of the shoddy state of affairs in Manchester with the players coming in for heavy criticism.
When quizzed on the recent performance levels of the side and Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, the former England international was adamant the players should be doing much better regardless of the formation deployed and questioned if they are good enough to cut the mustard at United.
“They’re nowhere near anything they should be (the performances). But I will say on his behalf (Amorim), prior to him being there, the majority of players were there as well and they’ve all been tried in systems and formations. There was an old saying that football is not about systems but about the players.
“He just hasn’t got the players to really do anything he wants. There’s always going to be a weakness or a soft centre with what he’s got there, supposedly men, who are just not up to the task of representing that football club,” he said.
Parker continued with his damning view on the underperforming stars, claiming everyone connected with the club can see they are not at the level of what he believes a Manchester United player should be.
“The fans know it, he must know it, you can’t trust them, they will let you down. They cannot sustain any consistency in their play,” he said.
Sections of the fanbase have called for Amorim to tweak his system amidst the poor run of form and whilst Parker can see the argument, he insists that nothing will change until the former Sporting head coach is handed players that suit the way he wants to play.
“You can call him stubborn, you can call him everything about how he’s got in his head how he wants to play and how he believes he can deliver his best formation and his system because he knows it better than anybody.
“(But) it’s never going to work until we get a back three of his choice, a midfield of his choice and 70% of a front three because he hasn’t got it, and a goalkeeper who is a huge problem,” he added.
Parker’s sentiments are likely to be echoed by the United head coach who will be desperate to add to his numbers across the park this summer.
Before then however, there is still plenty to fight for this season, with United able to qualify for next year’s Champions League via a successful Europa League campaign.
Qualifying for Europe’s top competition would have a major effect on United’s summer shopping and Amorim will certainly have his eye on the Bilbao final at the end of May.
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Conner Botterill
Conner Botterill has been with The Peoples Person for two years. A keen match-going red with degrees in Sport and Journalism and Philosophy and Psychology, Conner still believes he has a chance of making United’s first team through his 5-a-side career.
