Manchester United legend Gary Neville has claimed one player is “not good enough” and part of a “massive problem” after the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Man Utd fall to 14th after Manchester derby defeat
It was always going to be a difficult task for Man United to get something from Sunday’s game, but the manner of the defeat is likely to be particularly concerning, with Ruben Amorim’s side suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Manchester City.
Speaking after the game, Paul Scholes suggested a simple lack of quality on United’s behalf was the difference between the two sides, with the club legend particularly critical of the midfield.
Scholes said: “I don’t think the quality is there. “Whatever two out of the four or five they have got in [midfield] – Casemiro, Bruno [Fernandes], [Kobbie] Mainoo – whatever combination he seems to try doesn’t seem to work.
“That’s a big issue. I thought all summer the absolute priority was a centre midfield player with legs, who can play and can control a game.”
With the Red Devils falling to 14th after the heavy defeat, Neville was also left unimpressed, and the former right-back singled out a midfielder for criticism on his podcast after the match (via GiveMeSport).
The Sky Sports pundit said: “The midfield is a massive problem, and we’ve known that. United fans know that. Ugarte And Fernandes today, I think you mentioned it early, about an hour before the game, that Ugarte and Fernandes played in this fixture last year from start to finish, and United won the game, but Ugarte is not good enough.”
Ugarte fails to impress once again
Unfortunately for Amorim, Ugarte seems to be yet another player who has failed to adapt to life at Man United, despite exhibiting very promising signs before making the move to Old Trafford.
In fairness, the Uruguayan wasn’t one of the worst performers for Amorim’s side on Sunday, receiving a SofaScore match rating of 6.8, but he struggled to have any real impact on the match, being dribbled past on one occasion and losing possession eight times.
Neville is not the only person to have called out the £120k-a-week midfielder this season either, with football writer Muhammad Butt very critical of the 24-year-old’s performance in the embarrassing EFL Cup defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town.
As such, it is little wonder Man United are looking to strengthen their midfield in January, with Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba among the targets.
