Man United had a ‘FAR higher’ staff when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked three years in the past than they do now, claims Gary Neville in damning evaluation of Ruben Amorim’s aspect

Gary Neville has claimed that Man United had a better team three years ago – under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – than they do now under Ruben Amorim. 

A miserable 2-0 Monday night defeat at home by Newcastle leaves the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League and just seven points above 18th-placed Ipswich Town. 

To make matters worse, questions are already being asked over Amorim’s tactical approach – with the side now having suffered four consecutive defeats.

The performance drew criticism from the likes of Neville and Jamie Carragher – who claimed that Ruben Amorim’s system was having a negative impact on the side. 

Neville, meanwhile, went on to suggest that Amorim is working with one of the weaker United squads in recent history and claimed that the team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – who was sacked in 2021 – was better than the current side.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: ‘It was Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Lindelof and Maguire – which is a better backline than the one that’s out there now. 

Ruben Amorim’s Man United side suffered their fourth defeat in a row on Monday evening

Afterwards, Gary Neville claimed United had a better team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (above)

‘It was Matic and McTominay – which is a far better midfield than Casemiro and Eriksen. And up front was Sancho, Rashford, Bruno and Cristiano – which is again far better than the players out there. 

‘Now, that team was widely regarded as being nowhere near good enough for Manchester United and rightly so. But that team – that last game of Ole – is far better than the team that we’re watching here. And that’s the concern. 

‘There’s been another £450m spent since that period. I suppose if you went to [Jose] Mourinho’s last game, you might even find a better team again! 

‘You hope that moments like tonight are the low point but that team that’s played out there tonight, that won’t win a lot of football matches. It genuinely won’t in this league.

‘Man United have spent £1.5b in the last 10 years… £500m in the last three! I was actually excited by the signings in the summer. What’s happened?! No one was saying in the summer that these signings would make Man United worse’.

The Norwegian spent three years at the helm in his beloved Manchester, returning to the club in 2018 – 11 years on from his playing days at the Red Devils.

Solskjaer had a mixed time in the dugout, and eventually left his role after a 4-1 Premier League defeat by Watford in November 2021. 

During his time at the club, the Norwegian oversaw a sixth, third and second place finish for the Red Devils – as well as the return of Cristiano Ronaldo at the club. 

However, after a dismal start to the 2021–22 season, Solsjkaer was relieved of his duties and has been without a club ever since.

United had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (right) and an in-form Marcus Rashford (left) in 2021

Meanwhile, a number of United’s recent summer signings have failed to hit the ground running

Back in September, Solskjaer revealed that the decision to sign Ronaldo from Juventus in 2021 was wrong – admitting they did it to prevent him from joining City. 

Solskjaer said: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world the last 15 years. I played with him. He played for Manchester United. He has history with the club and he’s leaving Juventus but we can not give him to Manchester City because he will score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment probably. 

‘So I speak to Cristiano. We get him to Man United but I think maybe that affected the whole dressing room, the dynamic in the dressing room.

‘Maybe other players felt less important because of course this is one of the world superstars that comes in. 

‘He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but i was out of the job 10 weeks later!’