Sky Sports pundit and former Arsenal star Charlie Nicholas has insisted that Manchester United have gone backwards under Louis van Gaal.
His criticism comes as United look to end an eight-game winless streak in all competitions against Swansea City on Saturday, with Van Gaal coming under intense pressure after a disastrous December.
As well as being eliminated from the Champions League at the group stages, United have fallen out of the top four in the Premier League as they continue to falter and struggle to score goals.
While David Moyes endured a difficult season at the helm in 2013, Nicholas doesn’t agree with the suggestion that the club has made progress in the last two years and believes that their current boss is limiting them.
“When I hear people like Phil Jones say it’s much better than it was under David Moyes I disagree, I’d say it’s much worse now and the reason for that is because United are on a massive slide,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s the first time I can remember a Manchester United team not threatening to score. I know they hit the bar and the post against Chelsea but they just don’t do it often enough for me.
“Van Gaal deserves a lot of the criticism that has come his way because they have been bland and boring.”
Nicholas also played up the importance of Ryan Giggs and his role within the coaching staff, as he believes that the Welshman’s furious reaction after the loss to Stoke City as he stormed off the pitch may well have fired up some of the attacking players in the squad.
In turn, that resulted in a much improved performance against Chelsea where the Red Devils were unfortunate not to pick up all three points, as they also got the Old Trafford crowd back on their side as they showed plenty of attacking intent.
It remains to be seen how long Van Gaal remains in his position, but Nicholas is adamant that he has to give more freedom to his players in the final third in order to bring back success.