Graeme Souness has criticised Manchester United duo Fred and Nemanja Matic for not really contributing enough in midfield.
In a damning piece in the Times, the pundit highlights several weaknesses in this United squad, and doesn’t hold back with his views on Anthony Martial in particular.
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Still, he also highlights two Jose Mourinho signings as major issues, pointing out how much the midfield pair cost the club when they were brought in by their former manager.
Man Utd have made some progress this season thanks to the form of players like Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay, but there’s not been enough from Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek, while Fred and Matic have long looked a little below par.
Discussing this area of United’s squad, Souness said: “Scott McTominay is an honest player and, at 24, is only going to get better, but do they win the Premier League with Nemanja Matic and Fred, who they paid £40 million and £47 million respectively for under Jose Mourinho?
“They are steady Eddies who will dog it out away from home and protect your back four, but get them on the front foot and there’s no cuteness in their play. The midfield is the creative arm of the team and other than Fernandes, United need someone with cuter passing, who is a better all-round player than what they have now.”
MUFC fans will hope they can have a stronger transfer window this year after so many difficulties in that department last year when they missed out on a number of targets and ended up making what looked like panic buys late on.
“My heart sank because I thought ‘how do I do that? I ran into the kitchen and I thought ‘I am not going to poison this guy’, so I rang my wife.” – Man Utd legend describes his major panic about making a cup of tea for the first time…at the age of 37. Click here to find out more.