“Ruben Amorim is already falling into the same traps as Erik ten Hag, repeating the mistakes that hurt Manchester United last season. He needs to quickly adapt or this will end badly for the club” – Gary Neville has criticized the Manchester United manager for adopting approaches that mirror those of his predecessor. The former United defender raised concerns about Amorim’s strategy and its potential impact on the team’s performance moving forward.

Manchester United suffered their sixth Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday, falling 3-2 to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. Following the loss, Gary Neville offered pointed advice to manager Ruben Amorim, suggesting a lack of trust in his players might be undermining the team.

Neville criticized Amorim’s habit of making frequent and perplexing lineup changes, which he believes disrupt the team’s consistency. During the clash with Forest, Amorim made several substitutions that Neville described as counterproductive, leading to a disjointed performance.

The match began with Nikola Milenkovic giving Forest an early lead, followed by Rasmus Hojlund equalizing for United. However, goals from Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White overshadowed Bruno Fernandes’ late effort, sealing the defeat for the Red Devils.

Speaking on NBC Sports, Neville said:
“When you keep changing players, especially your defensive setup, or take off five players mid-game, you’re sending a message to the squad that you don’t trust them. Ten Hag used to do this, and it creates instability. You can’t build consistency when the system and players are constantly changing.”

Neville highlighted that United’s performance in the first half wasn’t entirely poor, despite conceding from set-pieces. However, the second half unraveled, with mistakes leading to Forest’s goals and chaotic late-game substitutions leaving United “a mess with no real shape.”

He continued:
“Amorim needs to pick a consistent starting XI that he believes in. We thought today’s lineup, apart from Luke Shaw, was close to the best XI United could field. Stick with it and let them build cohesion.”

Neville didn’t just hold Amorim accountable; he also called out the players for lacking effort.
“No team succeeds without hard work,” he said. “United are 13th in the league, and their distance covered is ranked 16th. You can’t expect results if you’re being outrun every week.”

Neville’s comments follow United’s back-to-back losses, leaving both the manager and the squad under mounting pressure to turn their season around.