Image Credits: Getty Images
We’re only a week away from Ruben Amorim taking charge at Manchester United, and already former club captain Gary Neville has set out areas he feels need to be improved.
United are currently 13th place in the Premier League after drawing 1-1 with Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend.
Whilst United are starting to look stronger in recent games, they are still a long way off reliving their former glories of dominating the league.
Following their match-up with The Blues, Gary Neville reviewed the game stats which gave a telling insight into United’s current playstyle.
Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville commented: “It was sober reading about how high Manchester United play up the pitch.”
He continued: “When I looked at the average start distance of the teams up the pitch, Manchester City are first, Arsenal second, Liverpool third, Tottenham fourth and Brighton are fifth. Manchester United are down in tenth.
“If you want to push your defence up the pitch, which is what I think every team looks to do nowadays, Amorim has got to start with that because Manchester United quite often have to travel 70, 80 yards to score a goal because they’re so deep and they play like the underdog in games.
“The other metric was possession won in the final third. So possession won high up the pitch: first was Manchester City, second was Tottenham, third was Arsenal and fourth was Liverpool. Manchester United are ninth.
“The final one I asked for was the highest turnovers. City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal made up the top four while Manchester United were ninth. These three things are critical to performance levels.
“Man United played like a team that is sat behind the ball. ‘Let’s try and get them on the counter or score from a set piece’.
“That’s got to change. You’ve got to be a team of dominance. And I mean dominance. I mean dominating the ball in the final third, dominating your forwards and staying high up the pitch.”
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CENTRE DEVILS WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOW!