Gary Neville says Manchester United must fix ‘massive embarrassment’

Gary Neville says the amount of shots Manchester United conceded last season was a ‘massive embarrassment’ and they have to ‘change everything’ after being ‘a mess everywhere’ on and off the pitch.

There has been plenty of change at Old Trafford over the summer, with new arrivals upstairs including Dan Ashworth as sporting director.

There have also been signings, with Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui coming in, while the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane have left.

What has remained the same, though, is that Erik ten Hag is still the manager and Neville says the Dutchman has to radically improve the team that finished eighth last term.

First of all, Neville says the Red Devils need to stop conceding so many shots on their goal, with that fault proving to be an embarrassment last season.

‘Manchester United had 670 shots on their goal last season, one shot on your goal should hurt you, 670 is a massive embarrassment and they’ve got to stop that,’ Neville told Sky Sports.

‘They were so exposed in midfield. They have narrowed the team. Whether it works or not…’

Neville was referring to the box midfield that Ten Hag has moved to in order to narrow the team, with Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro behind Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes lined up against Fulham on Friday night.

However, it is not just this that needs fixing, according to the former full-back, who had a scathing review of the Red Devils over last seaosn.

‘They were a mess everywhere,’ he said. ‘Injuries were a mess, the balance of the team was a mess, midfield was a mess, the amount of goals they conceded and shots they conceded, they didn’t score goals.

‘There was very little right about Manchester United last season at all. The only positive was the FA Cup success. They’ve got to change everything, it’s got to be so much better.’

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