Former Manchester United star Nani admits he does not believe there is any hunger in the current squad as he launches a scathing attack on his former club.
The 35-year-old believes there is a lack of desire to do what needs to be done to win games at United, adding that he does not think many members of the current squad do not ‘want to get tired’.
The Portuguese forward, who now plays for Australian side Melbourne Victory, spoke to former team-mate Rio Ferdinand‘s Vibe With Five podcast about the state of the Red Devils following their disastrous start to the 2022-23 Premie League season.
Nani launched an attack on the current Manchester United squad under Erik ten Hag
Nani said: ‘I don’t like to talk too much, I don’t talk about players but you can see there is no hunger, there is no attitude or desire to win in the club.
Nani’s spell at United came during one of their most successful periods of dominance
‘You have a lot of talented players but they don’t want to get tired. If I had to get sweaty to win, I would. They prefer to not sweat.
‘You have talented players in the team with a lot of skills, they can shoot with their right foot and left but last game [against Brentford], no one was shooting at goal, everyone was passing.’
During a -year stay at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson Nani was part of the side that won four Premier Leagues between 2007-8 and 2012-13, four Community Shields, A club World Cup in 2009, 2007-8 Champions League and consecutive League Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Erik ten Hag’s second successive loss – a 4-0 hammering at Brentford – at the start of his United tenure came despite his side dominating possession, boasting 67% of the ball.
But they were unable to turn that dominance into any meaningful progress in the game, registering just four shots on target and winning only two corners as ball was regularly shuffled sideways and backwards rather than up the field.
The shocking performance against Brentford was rewarded with a gruelling training session
And it would appear the Dutch manager shares some of Nani’s opinions on his squad and after calling the performance ‘rubbish’, the furious United boss cancelled a planned day off and ordered the players to report to the club’s Carrington training base.
Sportsmail understands that concerns among United’s coaching staff over the effort put in by some players in training last week were justified by their pathetic performance at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Ten Hag punished his team for running a total of eight-and-a-half miles less than Brentford by making them cover the same distance on Sunday in temperatures of over 30 degrees.
With United bottom of the table on zero points and -5 goal difference ahead of a showdown with nemesis Liverpool, Nani will surely be joining United fans across the world in hoping that Ten Hag’s most recent lesson has stuck.
The Dutch manager joined Nani in slamming his side’s performance in west London