Manchester United got back to winning ways against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, but Gary Neville fears Erik ten Hag’s side won’t finish higher than sixth.
In turn, Neville fears that United will fall short in the race for a top four finish.
United fans have already accepted that we won’t be competing for the league title this season. We’ve got a lot to fix before that becomes a reality, but Erik ten Hag has credit in his account after his first season at Old Trafford.
The manager deserves time to try turn things around.
We did secure three points on Saturday against a pretty tame Brentford side, but only time will prove if it was the boost we needed or simply a matter of papering over the cracks?
Two late goals in the 93rd and 97th minutes from substitute Scott McTominay saw United come from behind to to beat Brentford 2-1.
Despite the win, Gary Neville says United will finish no higher than sixth this season. He bizarrely thinks Chelsea are closer to securing a top-five spot, which I genuinely can’t see happening.
“I don’t think Manchester United will finish in the top five this season… but they proved me wrong last season after having a very poor start,” Neville said on the latest Gary Neville Podcast.
“Chelsea have got a lot of talented young players. The question mark will be centre-forward and experience if something happens to Thiago Silva.
“Chelsea are not far away if they get a centre-forward and centre-half. Even though they’ve spent £1bn they still need two players.
“I felt sorry for Brentford because I like them a lot. But it was huge. Huge in the sense of it had been such a depressing start to the season and by no stretch of the imagination does beating Brentford at home with two goals in the 93rd and 97th minutes mean that everything is ok. Far from it. It’s a mess.
“They’re way off it and I’m surprised because seven or eight weeks ago I had them third again.
“The goalkeeper hasn’t settled in quickly. That’s a problem. If your goalkeeper isn’t settled in and there’s a bit on instability around that, it does create a big problem. I’ve had it at United.
“Chelsea are probably near to it [the top five] if they can just go on a run because they have got some really talented young players. Their age is a lot better than the Manchester United squad.”
Ten Hag has a lot of work to do, but at least he has several players yet to return from injury. Our defence has been depleted since the 2023/24 campaign kicked off.
Let us know in the comments section if you think United will be able to get a strong hold on the season after the international break.
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