Ex-Man Utd player Mikael Silvestre thinks Gary Neville is wrong to suggest that their front three is the “weakest” compared to the rest of the Big Six.
Erik ten Hag has done pretty well since taking over at Man Utd in the summer. They currently sit fifth in the Premier League but this season was always likely to be a slow-burner for the club.
One of the manager’s issues at the moment is United’s struggles in front of goal.
At the time of writing, Chelsea are the only Big Six side that have scored fewer goals than United in the Premier League.
The Red Devils have netted 18 in 13 games and they have a negative goal difference having conceded 19 goals.
In Ten Hag’s defence, he has rarely had all of his fit forwards fit and firing at once.
Anthony Martial has looked like a player reborn this season when he’s played. He has contributed with two goals and two assists in four Premier League games but he has struggled with injuries.
Cristiano Ronaldo meanwhile missed most of pre-season as he looked to engineer himself a move away from the club.
The 37-year-old did not get his wish and he now sits on just one goal in ten games. This pales in comparison to last season as he netted 18 times in the league.
Ronaldo is expected to leave United in the coming months and the club are already identifying potential replacements.
Gary Neville is concerned about United’s forward line as it is “the weakest out of the top six”.
“Manchester United’s front three, they are the weakest out of the top six,” Neville said on The Overlap.
“United’s front players aren’t as good as they should be. Ten Hag is getting the maximum out of them, I don’t know where the money’s gone again.”
He added: “They keep getting injuries to the pairing. You can’t keep a steady pair.
“Varane gets injured and Maguire came in last week and Lindelof is in midweek and today, so that’s a real problem.”
Silvestre disagrees with Neville as United’s attacking players on an individual basis are “capable of competing”.
The former defender also believes that the “collective approach is not perfect” at the moment.
“I don’t know why he’s (Gary Neville) saying that. I think that if you look at individuals, these players are not the lowest,” Silvestre told bettingexpert.
“For me, it’s a collective response that United needs to find because if you take the players one by one I think that are capable of competing with any of those teams.”
Silvestre added: “But right now with the rest of the players, the connection, the link-up play and the collective approach is not perfect.
“But that goes with what the manager is saying. It takes time. Antony just got there so it’s going to take time.
“I wouldn’t say they are the weakest, for sure.”
READ MORE: Ranking all 52 Manchester United signings since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club