Ex-Man Utd defender highlights key decision the board got wrong

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Gary Neville has implied United’s board should not have handed Jose Mourinho a contract extension at the club.

Manchester United’s hopes of winning the Premier League were well and truly dashed on Sunday after Liverpool showed no mercy in their 3-1 beating at Anfield.

Man Utd’s terrible season:  Five things you need to know…

  1. A rift seemed to be developing between Mourinho and the club’s board in the summer over transfer dealings.
  2. United have already conceded one more goal after 17 games in the Premier League than they did last season(29).
  3. They’ve lost five games already this season, just two two fewer than the entirely of the previous campaign.
  4. The Red Devils have also only kept two clean sheets this term.
  5. Following the defeat to Liverpool, United are now closer to the bottom of the Premier League than they are the top.

Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the Reds when Ashley Young lost sight of his run into the box, the 26-year-old controlling the ball expertly with his chest before volleying past a helpless David De Gea.

United got back into the game against the run of play with a goal from Jesse Lingard, but Liverpool finished off Mourinho’s men in the second half via a brace from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Prior to the match Neville did not mince his words when criticising Man Utd’s decision to hand Mourinho a contract extension last Christmas.

“The boardroom is so naive,” he told Sky Sports.  “To give him (José Mourinho) an extended contract, knowing the cycle of Mourinho. The club lost control, they don’t know what to do with him.

“I think [the problem] is deep-rooted. I mean, from the first day of pre-season it’s been a mess, a complete mess. The second Jose Mourinho came out in pre-season you could tell he was at it, he was playing games.

“The club needed to get hold of it then, but it was too late, because they’d given him a contract last January.

“You know the pattern when Jose Mourinho comes to a football club: the first 12-18 months are usually successful – they won two trophies, they were second in the league last Christmas and he strong-armed the board into giving him a new contract which gave him the power and control.”

Can United break the top four?

Following the game Jose Mourinho had little choice but to acknowledge the extremely high probability United were not going to lift the Premier League title this season, but the Portuguese tactician did not rule out making the top four, despite being 11 points off the pace.

If the Red Devils don’t make drastic improvements over the festive period then they can forget about qualifying for the Champions League next season–  via the their position on the Premier League table at any rate.

The gulf in class between United and Liverpool as well as in their game against Manchester City was laid bare for all to see in their 3-1 losses to both clubs. Against both sides, United were completely outplayed, outmanoeuvred and outclassed from start to finish.

Neville was critical of his club before the game, and the vitriol didn’t stop during it either. Describing United’s performance, Neville told Maritn Tyler in Sky’s commentary box: “You asked me earlier in the game how United are playing; you can sort of see five at the back but they are all over the place, they are like spaghetti bolognese when you’re watching them.

“Even on this free-kick (that followed) the line isn’t straight! I just look at them and just can’t tell who is leading that line.”

This sentiment was shared by his former colleague and skipper Roy Keane who was equally candid about the state of his former club, telling Sky Sports: “I see United every few weeks and think, yeah they’re looking not bad.

“Then they look disinterested, which is no good for any of the big clubs.

“I think they’ve certainly lost their way and I look at the lack of characters, the lack of leaders in the team and you come unstuck, especially in the big games.”

The post Gary Neville pinpoints the moment when the Man Utd board “lost control” of the club appeared first on Squawka News.



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