Neville: Man Utd's balance isn't right – I expect changes vs Liverpool

Gary Neville believes the balance of Manchester United’s team is not right and that changes must be made ahead of the Super Sunday clash with Liverpool, live on Sky Sports.

Erik ten Hag’s side suffered their first defeat of the season to Brighton on Saturday, with Joao Pedro scoring a stoppage-time winner after Amad Diallo had cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s first-half opener.

On the other side of the Liverpool-United divide, Arne Slot’s Reds have won both of their opening Premier League fixtures without conceding a goal, thanks to 2-0 victories over Ipswich and Brentford.

Read below to hear Neville’s views via the Gary Neville Podcast about United’s style of play under Ten Hag going into such an important game at Old Trafford this weekend…

Sunday 1st September 3:30pm


Kick off 4:00pm

‘It’s hard to score when you don’t have a striker’

I wouldn’t say Manchester United were unlucky against Brighton. It’s very difficult to play football without a centre-forward. It’s been done before with false nines, but then you have two special wingers who make those inside and outside runs.

But playing with Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes as the highest players, with Amad and Marcus Rashford out wide, it’s almost as if they gave away a first half again.

They weren’t playing badly – but it was a nothing really. And it’s hard to score a goal like that. Amad had that chance, he should have done better at the back post. It’s hard to score goals and play football well if you haven’t got a good centre forward, let alone a centre forward at all.

You need a focal point, someone to be able to put runs in behind to stretch defences. If you’re Brighton or Fulham last week, it’s quite simple to play football with Mount and Fernandes there. They’re very good players, it’s no bad reflection on them and I know Rasmus Hojlund is injured.

So when Joshua Zirkzee comes on at the start of the second half, the game started at half-time for United. They have almost given away 45 minutes.

‘I expect changes against Liverpool’

The balance of that 4-2-2-2 formation isn’t right, which Ten Hag is going with.

I don’t mind it, but I would have thought Amad and Rashford would be split strikers and there would be a box in midfield. But we’re finding it at times, that those two are so wide that there is no-one up front. And he had to correct it at half-time, like he did in the second half against Fulham.

I would expect next week they will change system against Liverpool. But it’s what that balance is and how he gets those players in. He was changing the back four again during the Brighton game, taking centre-backs off. Taking centre-backs off was a no-no back in the day.

You might take a full-back off when you’re winning a game. But when you’re drawing or winning a game, you don’t tend to take off a defender. You tend to trust your defenders and keep that familiarity.

There are tweaks and uncertainties in his mind of who to play and when to play. I think he has to select a system, select the back four, select the midfield. It’s difficult with Hojlund injured but for the moment select something up front, select a way of playing and go with it.

We’re still changing back fours and midfields, systems during games. It’s only been two games but we’ve done it in both games. One, fine. Twice is a pattern starting to emerge.

Let’s nip those patterns in the bud because when it becomes a negative pattern, you can start to get a bit of trouble.

‘This week is really important for Ten Hag and United’

I was thinking about how to describe a draw against Brighton. I don’t think the draw would have been a disaster. Brighton are a good team and United have had difficulties there. You’re thinking four points going into the Liverpool game.

But when you lose, and you’ve only just beaten Fulham the week before, it does put a bit of pressure on the game next week against Liverpool. It puts that little bit of a squeeze.

We know that Ten Hag is going to be under pressure if he starts this season in the same vein he did last season. So this next week is really important before the international break. Get a pattern of play, a style of play, a team picked that he believes is his best and then go with it.

Some have come late from transfers and the Euros, but now with another week inside them, with eight days until Liverpool, now is the time.

I don’t think we can go into games thinking you can change your back four part way through it, and your systems part way through it. That’s happened twice – I don’t think a third time it works.

Stream Man Utd vs Liverpool on Super Sunday with NOW – kick-off 4pm