Neville: 'There are some bedbugs in the Man Utd dressing room'
"Ten Hag is facing some bugs," Neville said in a personal video on September 18. "From the outside, we cannot know the discomfort and uncertainty that is being created inside."
Neville also did not hesitate to name Jadon Sancho, the player who was just removed from the first team by Ten Hag, and Harry Maguire, the former captain who refused to leave in the 2023 summer transfer window. The former player questioned the influence in the room. The changes these two players have had and the level of negativity they have created over time. "Ten Hag is facing some situations where I don't know the extent of the damage, but considering the way Ten Hag works, I don't think he will change," Neville added.
During the summer transfer window, Man Utd spent about 220 million USD to buy goalkeeper Andre Onana, midfielder Mason Mount and striker Rasmus Hojlund. They also borrowed Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat. However, in the first five rounds of the Premier League, Man Utd only won against Wolves and Nottingham with a difference of one goal. When meeting Tottenham, Arsenal and Brighton, Ten Hag's team all lost by two goals. Man Utd is ranked 13th after five rounds with six points, seven points behind the top 4.
Neville hopes three defeats in the first five rounds of the Premier League are just a normal difficult start. He doesn't want it to become the challenge that caused David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to leave.
Before the season, Ten Hag took away the captain's armband from Maguire, a player who often made mistakes when entering the field, to give it to Bruno Fernandes. He also wanted to push Maguire to West Ham, but the former most expensive defender in the world was determined to stay and compete for a starting position.
Ten Hag also had problems with Sancho. After being criticized for being lazy in training, the former Dortmund player immediately responded via social networks. After that, Sancho refused to apologize to Ten Hag, so he was pushed to practice with the youth team. If nothing changes, during the winter transfer window, Man Utd will sell or loan the player they spent $94 million to buy in 2021.
Neville believes that Man Utd's purchase of Onana, Mount and Hojlund is not enough to strengthen. He once wanted his old team to buy players who had proven themselves in the Premier League like Harry Kane or Declan Rice, but both of them went to Bayern and Arsenal respectively. "I never thought Man Utd would challenge Man City and Arsenal with the players they brought in," Neville added. "What they need are contracts like Kane or Rice. But they don't have the money to make those contracts."
Tomorrow, September 20, Man Utd will kick off the Champions League group stage at Bayern's field.
