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Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has laid into the style of football currently being served up by Erik Ten Hag and his men.
The Red Devils enjoyed a relatively successful first season under Ten Hag as they finished third and won the Carabao Cup.
However, fast forward a year and the club is in sixth, eleven points off Aston Villa in fourth and have the unenviable task of knocking Liverpool out of the FA Cup on St Patrick’s Day.
United have only managed to pick up 44 points from 27 league games and have a goal difference of minus two.
For a team famed historically for attacking play, the meagre total of 37 goals in the league is of the utmost embarrassment.
It was hoped that bringing in Ten Hag from Ajax, who had made his name with attractive, brave football in Holland, could finally find the formula to get United playing attractively but that has not transpired.
Speaking on the issue on Sky Sport’s The Overlap Fan Debate, Neville claimed bemoaned the lack of progress and ideas stylistically at the club.
“I’m absolutely bemused, like bewildered as to how we can’t play football under Ten Hag”.
“I can’t believe it, because obviously, you see his football he’s played when he’s been at a previous club, and he’s come in at United and the football (has deteriorated)…”.
“He actually resorted last week at City when you look back on the game to what Ole did at Tottenham when he sat back to try and get a result. He tried to get a result by any means last week… Why can’t he get a tune out of the football (team)?”
When the manager first came in he attempted to play a possession based style but was scared off the idea by defeats to Brighton and a 4-0 slaughtering at Brentford.
This resulted in the Dutchman playing more conservatively and he was immediately rewarded with a crucial 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford.
However, many fans wonder whether it would have been better to ride out his possession-based football style for a while longer and see if his ideas could have worked if given sufficient time to come into fruition.
The former Ajax boss seemed to totally abandon his principles in the summer when he claimed that he wanted to make his United side the “best transition team in the world”.
Unfortunately, the team lacks the legs in midfield and it has meant that the Mancunian side have been cut open time after time, leaving oceans of space between the defenders and the rest of the team.
If anything can save Ten Hag’s job at this point, it is results. However, one of the saddest aspects of his time in charge is the inability to play the football he surely would have envisaged back in May 2022 when accepting the role.