Gary Neville has suggested Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim does not rate strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. United forked out over £100million to sign the duo, but Amorim opted to bench them both as the Red Devils took on Crystal Palace on Sunday with Kobbie Mainoo deployed as a false nine instead. However, the move was unsuccessful as United lost 2-0 to Palace thanks to a Jean-Philippe Mateta brace and Neville believes it was a mistake. Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, he claimed the move showed that Amorim "doesn't like the strikers he's got".
Neville said: "The only thing I can think is that it's one of two things. Maybe it's experimenting to the point whereby he's just trying to find a solution that works and he likes and a system he wants to play. Or he doesn't like the strikers he's got. "When I saw the teamsheet, I thought Fernandes would play in that position or Garnacho. When I saw Kobbie up there, everything has to be absolutely perfect. From Palace's point of view, they would fancy that because there's no real goalscorer in the team.
"I'm not saying if Hojlund was up there they'd panic but at least then there's a physical presence. Zirzkee is a big lad. I'm not saying they're brilliant these players but when I saw the team I thought Palace will fancy this and I can't really see how United will score. Where's it going to come from? If a team doesn't look like it quite often isn't right. "I thought it would get better when Ruben Amorim came in, I thought they'd buy into his enthusiasm and the system. We've seen the absolute opposite, it's got a lot worse and that's surprising. There's going to be a lot more pain towards the end of the season I think.
"They're obviously going to stick with Amorim but the more you lose the harder it becomes for the players to buy into the manager and his ideas. You can't keep losing, it will depress the players and make them lose faith. He has to do something but he can't change his approach now. "He won't be enjoying this but I think he's got to simplify it, while he might not like Hojlund, he might not think Zirkzee is great, he might not like other players, but he’s got to pick the players he has, the players he's been served.
"It can't keep going on as it is, they need to start to play better but where is that coming from? At this moment in time it's a very sorry situation watching Manchester United play.". Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
