Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes his former side must do one thing to progress this season.
Let down by avoidable error
The Red Devils lost again at Old Trafford as they fell to a 0-1 defeat to Arsenal on the opening day.
Nonetheless, most fans were happy with the performance as they carried significantly more attacking threat than the visitors.
There were also strong debuts from Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo but a familiar problem let the team down.
Altay Bayindir, given the nod ahead of Andre Onana, flapped at a corner and the ball ended up in the back of the net when it should have been easily dealt with.
After the game, head coach Ruben Amorim staunchly defended his goalkeeper but many fans will have been left concerned that with only two weeks of the window left, the club has still not brought in a new keeper and may not do so.
Gary Neville pinpoints issue
His fellow pundit and former teammate Roy Keane had already criticised Bayindir’s poor performance but Neville also pinpointed the Turk as a weak spot in the team.
Speaking to Sky Sports Neville stated, “there’s a glaring issue that Man Utd cannot ignore and it is the fact they need to find a goalkeeper.”
He elaborated, “they have to. I’m unequivocal on that because I had an experience with Man Utd for 20 years where there were two big periods of seven or eight years with Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.”
He claimed that between these two legendary keepers, United kept switching between players and this in turn led to the defence making a lot of errors.
Emiliano Martinez and Gianluigi Donnarumma suggestions
The Red Devils have been linked to both keepers this summer even though neither deal looks particularly likely at this stage.
Neville put forward these two names as possible solutions to the keeping crisis and stated, “the reason I think they would be good goalkeepers for Man Utd is not necessarily because they are the best goalkeepers in Europe, but they are big personalities and characters.”
He added, “you’ve seen Donnarumma in a European final save those penalties for Italy. He looked like a giant. He’s played for PSG in huge games under pressure. Martinez has played in the World Cup final and won it for Argentina.”
The former defender stated that both have the arrogance and confidence to play for a team like United.
Neville praised Amorim’s influence on the team, claiming they are a now side that could do something but that any progress will continually be undermined if they do not bring in a keeper.
He stated, “when the goalkeeper is flapping at the ball, those 72,000 home fans are groaning and that sends a shiver through the spines of defenders. It also sends a shiver through the goalkeeper and creates an anxiety around the stadium.”
Neville finished by claiming, “you’ve got to have personality, stability and character in that position, and Man Utd are going to have to deal with it in the next couple of weeks.”
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
