Manager Ruben Amorim will need two or three transfer windows to build a new team at Manchester United, capable of playing in his system, said Sky Sports analyst and former player of the club Gary Neville, BTA reported.
"The Red Devils" are in 15th place in the Premier League and after the defeat by Tottenham at the weekend, Amorim has won only four of his first 14 Premier League games.
Amorim wanted to postpone his move to United until the summer and finish the season at Portuguese Sporting Lisbon, but the release of Erik ten Hag forced the transfer. The Portuguese himself has been given an ultimatum that it will happen "now or never".
Amorim himself is showing similar, if not weaker results, but the United manager refuses to change the system of playing with three in the center of defense. He stressed that in the summer the club will have to make outgoing transfers before allowing incoming ones, and that will take time for complete changes. According to Neville, things will drag on for at least another year.
"How quickly can Amorim not just get good players, but ones who can play in his system? 3-4-3 is a special system. For it you need to have two midfielders who are able to play together and cover a long distance on the pitch. "You need three central defenders, and the two wingers need to be able to cover the full-backs' areas when they're attacking," he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
"This system requires specialists in certain areas. It's different to most, which allow for a wider range of players. How quickly can Amorim get United players together and adapt them to a 3-4-3 formation? At least two or three transfer windows because the club has already made huge investments in transfers and could face a penalty under Financial Fair Play rules," he added, as quoted by Sky Sports.
"They've lost £300m in the last three years and it won't be easy for them to throw more money into the transfer market. "They've just wasted a lot of money in recent years."
After watching the match against Tottenham, Neville identified Bruno Fernandes as the only United player who could be a starter for Spurs. He based this on the performance of the players from both teams since the start of the season in the Premier League, where Tottenham are a point ahead of United.
"I would say Bruno could play there. Maybe Amad Diallo, but in that position they have Dejan Kulusevski. Honestly, I would prefer Kulusevski," continued the former captain of the 20-time English champions.
"Every Tottenham player, except maybe one, is better than the Manchester United players. This is not my emotional reaction from the game at the weekend. It's not my personal nervous outburst, those things are in the past. It's just sad the state of Manchester United at the moment. It's sad to see how far these players have come, and what they were considered when they were transferred to the club.
"The question is what happens to them when they arrive at the team. We have also seen cases of leaving players who immediately play better. The club is undergoing many changes off the pitch, and there is uncertainty on it. They have already fired one manager this season, and in such an environment it is difficult to move forward. The same thing has been happening for the last ten years, and the changes have not worked to date.
"My hope is that in the next two or three years Ruben Amorim will be given time to build a successful team. However, at the moment, any Tottenham player would be preferable to those at United".
/MD/
Source: www.bta.bg