Gary Neville slams Erik ten Hag for United’s 2-0 loss at Newcastle but believes United can make top 4

Gary Neville, the Manchester United legend, criticized Erik ten Hag for substituting Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez in the match against Newcastle United. 

Neville felt that the Dutch manager made a tactical error with his changes. 

The French and Argentine centre-backs were both taken off in the 83rd minute of the game, and the Magpies doubled their lead, securing the three points in a 2-0 win over the Red Devils. 

Neville spoke to Manchester Evening News after Callum Wilson scored the second goal and stated that at the point of Varane and Martinez leaving the pitch, Man United were only losing 1-0. Therefore, throwing the kitchen sink at the result did not seem like a wise move, and it eventually backfired. 

“Once those changes were made this was the most predictable outcome. Manchester United just had no height in there. You are better off having two with them both being centre-backs rather than three with two full-backs, you end up being really exposed.”

Facundo Pellistri replaced the Argentine, while Lindelof came on for the former Real Madrid defender.

After being substituted in the game against Newcastle United, Raphael Varane was replaced by Lindelof, Diogo Dalot, and Luke Shaw, forming a back three. 

However, the Old Trafford side’s backline was visibly lacking in height and physicality, which gave the advantage to Eddie Howe’s team. 

As a result, the Tyneside outfit was able to take the lead with a header from a set-piece by Callum Wilson. The match between Man United and Newcastle took place on 2 April at St. James’ Park in the Premier League, and it was significant in terms of the top-four race, with the Tyneside outfit overtaking the Red Devils to third place in the table. 

Despite David de Gea making some impressive saves to keep Man United in the game, Joe Willock scored in the 66th minute, leading to the eventual defeat of Man United. 

“The result was not ideal for the Old Trafford side, and hopefully, Erik ten Hag will be able to make the team bounce back in the upcoming game against Brentford.”I’m not as confident,” Neville said. 

“I think United will finish in the top four but I’m not as confident as 93%. I’m not sure that takes into account Manchester United are still in the Europa League, still in the FA Cup.”

“If you think of Manchester United’s run-in my concern of United just a little bit is the stretch and stress on the squad. They are finely-tuned, and one or two players away from if they got an injury the performance levels drop enormously.”