Gary Neville has suggested Ruud van Nistelrooy should consider making a major change at Manchester United due to their ongoing defensive issues.
The ex-United forward has been appointed as interim manager following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag. Van Nistelrooy, who was brought in during the summer to assist Ten Hag, has been present throughout the season and is now charged with enhancing the team’s performance.
Inheriting a squad currently sitting in 14th place and facing multiple challenges, one of which being defence, Van Nistelrooy has his work cut out. With Ten Hag failing to establish a successful defensive combination and Matthijs de Ligt not making the expected impact, Neville thinks a back three could provide more stability.
The former defender also highlighted that United’s full-backs, including Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, are more effective offensively than defensively. Therefore, a back three utilising wing-backs could be a swift solution for the temporary manager.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: “He can set the team up differently. That’s something that could happen, he could make the make-up of the team slightly different. But he’s been on the bench with Erik ten Hag so I’d be amazed if there was something drastic in the next few games.
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“I believe that ultimately there needs to be quite a lot of work done with those players because at this moment in time they are desperately struggling,” reports the Mirror. He added: “Ruud van Nistelrooy will do his very best. I have thought for a number of months that, looking at the players that United have they’d maybe be better suited to going three at the back.
“Just purely because of the lack of a centre-back pairing and the full-backs look better going forward than they do defensively, so maybe that could happen. Maybe that might give them a bit more comfort because it would give them an extra body at the back and players would be in a system where they got more support.
“That’s something I’ve thought for a few months, whether that’s the right way to go I’m not sure. We’ll see against Leicester on Wednesday if he agreed with what Erik was doing because he’ll pick a different team if he didn’t.”
The absence of a clear playing identity was a long-standing criticism of Ten Hag, who was recognised for the style he established while at Ajax. He struggled to find that at United, leading pundits to frequently question what the Dutchman was attempting to achieve with his squad.
Switching to a back three would also prepare the squad for the expected arrival of Ruben Amorim who has reportedly agreed to become the next United manager permanently. He is widely known for adopting a 3-4-3 formation during his time in charge of Sporting Lisbon.