Gary Neville has told Manchester United they are ‘not going to win anything’ unless they ‘start working hard’.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men slipped up again over the weekend, drawing with Everton at home in the Premier League.
The Reds are still only two points behind leaders Chelsea after seven games, but they can’t seem to find consistency having already drawn twice and lost three times across all competitions.
Given they are still in touch with the top of the table, it’s not panic stations for United, but the strength of their squad merits more.
United spent a significant amount of money during the summer to sign the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho, but there hasn’t been too much improvement in performances.
That’s even with the influence of Ronaldo, which seems to have been reduced in recent games.
And former defender turned Sky Sports pundit Neville believes if United want to get the best out of their star frontman and win something this season, they’d better start working a little harder.
“The other thing I’ll say is that Cristiano Ronaldo needs players around who can work really hard defensively,” Neville told his Sky Sports Football podcast.
“My view on it would be to pick a group of players around Cristiano Ronaldo, whether that is (Edinson) Cavani as well up front who works hard and then around that you just get some really hardworking.
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“Whether that is the really talented in the squad or whether that’s some dogs like Jesse Lingard and players like that. For Jesse Lingard today you’ve got Ji-Sung Park years ago.
“The best players don’t make the best team. That’s why I had a career at Manchester United, it’s why Darren Fletcher, Nicky Butt, Ji-Sung Park, Owen Hargreaves and players of that ilk had careers because you need soldiers alongside the generals that you’ve got.
“Manchester United have got a lot of generals but unless they start working hard they ain’t going to win anything.”