Gary Neville says which Man Utd players 'should be doing a lot better'

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville insists senior players including Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Harry Maguire “should be doing a lot better” for the club.

United appear to have turned a corner in recent weeks, having won three successive matches for the first time under Ruben Amorim before Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

However, Neville appeared on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show and had some criticism for the team’s “ageing” spine.

He said: “I think your spine of a football team is critical. When I first came into Man United, our spine was (Peter) Schmeichel, (Steve) Bruce, (Gary) Pallister, (Roy) Keane and (Eric) Cantona and so we were all scattered around it.

“I think Maguire and (Matthijs) De Ligt should be doing a lot better than they are. You know, you look at the experience that those two have got.

“De Ligt’s played a mountain of games at sort of different levels, the highest level. Harry’s played so many times for England. You’ve got the midfield, Casemiro and Bruno have got massive experience.

“Up front, they haven’t got the experience. But to me, that spine of Bruno Fernandes (31), Casemiro (33), Maguire (32) and De Ligt (26) is ageing, but should be doing a lot better at holding it all together than they do.”

The Red Devils are in the midst of a rebuild following a wretched 2024-25 season, which saw the side limp home 15th in the Premier League and lose the Europa League final to Tottenham.

United will hope to continue their improvement as Amorim’s side seek to end a four-match losing streak to Spurs on Saturday, with the Bilbao loss extending their winless run against them to seven games.

Asked how different United’s team is to May’s meeting, the manager said: “First of all, the characteristics of the players.

“So, we are a better team, we play better, we understand the game better. I think we are more confident.

“We reached that final confident that we could win because we were doing well in Europe, but in this moment we play with a different confidence.

“We manage the moments of the game better. But if you remember that game, they have that shot on the goal, they won the game.

“So, I expect a different game, that we can play better, but also to have a little bit luck to help us to win the game.”