United’s defenders have received a lot of stick for squandering a 3-1 lead to lose 5-3 against newly-promoted Leicester City on Sunday but Neville, who won six Premier League titles with United, said he was not surprised.
“I know United have spent £150 million,” Neville told BBC Radio 5 live. “I think there’s another two transfer windows of similar amounts of money needed – maybe £100 million – before they can even think about winning the title.”
Neville felt that the Red Devils, who now boast an array of attacking talent, need to focus on defence and midfield.
“I think the centre-back position is obviously the key area,” added Neville. “Holding midfield or centre midfield needs addressing too.”
The imbalance was glaringly obvious on Sunday as Robin van Persie, Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Radamel Falcao and Wayne Rooney all looked dangerous going forward but the team conceded four goals in just over 20 second-half minutes.
To add to Louis van Gaal’s defensive problems, Jonny Evans went off injured – leaving the ground on crutches and with his foot in a protective boot – while young centre-back Tyler Blackett was sent off and will be suspended for Saturday’s game against West Ham at Old Trafford.
Rodgers glad to have Balotelli on board
Controversial striker Mario Balotelli took to Twitter to poke fun at United after the match and received racist abuse for the Tweet. However, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said that the new signing has caused him no problems so far during his time at Anfield.
The Reds signed the Italian forward from AC Milan last month and the former Manchester City player, whose first spell in England was marked by a series of bizarre off-field incidents, scored his first goal for Liverpool in last week’s 2-1 Champions League victory over Ludogorets.
Rodgers was also upbeat despite Liverpool’s poor start to the season that has seen them lose three of their first five matches.
“There is a natural transition in the group, and where there is that transition, there are little bumps along the way,” he said. “Balotelli is one of a number of players we brought in and for them all, no matter how good their quality, it is going to take a wee bit of time to gel with the players that were already here.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2014.
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