Man United had a ‘FAR better’ team when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked three years ago than they do now, claims Gary Neville in damning assessment of Ruben Amorim’s side

Gary Neville has claimed that Man United had a better team three years ago – under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – than they do now under Ruben Amorim.

A miserable 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle on Monday evening left the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League and just seven points above 18th-placed Ipswich Town.

To make matters worse, questions are already being asked about Amorim’s tactical approach, with the team now having suffered four consecutive defeats.

The performance drew criticism from the likes of Neville and Jamie Carragher, who claimed Ruben Amorim’s system was having a negative impact on the flank.

Neville, meanwhile, suggested Amorim is working with one of the weaker United sides in recent memory and claimed the team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – who was sacked in 2021 – was better than the current squad.

Speaking Air sportsNeville said: “It was Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Lindelof and Maguire – which is a better backline than the one we have now.

Afterwards, Gary Neville claimed United had a better team under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (above)

‘It was Matic and McTominay, which is a much better midfield than Casemiro and Eriksen. And up front were Sancho, Rashford, Bruno and Cristiano – which again is much better than the players out there.

‘Now that team was widely regarded as not nearly good enough for Manchester United, and rightly so. But that team – that last Ole game – is much better than the team we’re looking at here. And that is the concern.

‘A further £450 million has been spent since that period. I guess if you went there [Jose] Mourinho’s last game, you might even find a better team again!

“You hope moments like tonight are the low point, but that team playing there tonight isn’t going to win many football games. That really won’t happen in this competition.

‘Man United have spent £1.5 billion in the last ten years… £500 million in the last three years! I was actually excited about the summer signings. What happened?! No one said this summer that these signings would make Man United worse.’

The Norwegian was at the helm of his beloved Manchester for three years and returned to the club in 2018, eleven years after his playing days with the Red Devils.

Solskjaer had a mixed time in the dugout, eventually leaving his role after a 4-1 Premier League defeat to Watford in November 2021.

During his time at the club, the Norwegian secured sixth, third and second-place finishes for the Red Devils, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the club.

However, after a dismal start to the 2021-2022 season, Solsjkaer was relieved of his duties and has been without a club since.

United had Cristiano Ronaldo (right) and an in-form Marcus Rashford (left) in 2021

Meanwhile, a number of United’s recent summer signings have failed to materialize

In September, Solskjaer it turned out that the decision to sign Ronaldo by Juventus in 2021 was wrong: they admitted that they did it to prevent him from joining City.

Solskjaer said: “Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world over the last 15 years. I played with him. He played for Manchester United. He has history at the club and he is going to leave Juventus, but we cannot give him to Manchester City because he will probably score more goals than Erling Haaland is doing at the moment.

‘So I’m speaking to Cristiano. We’ll bring him to Man United, but I think that might have affected the whole dressing room, the dynamics in the dressing room.

‘Maybe other players felt less important, because this is obviously one of the world superstars coming in.

‘He did well. He was top scorer that year, scored 24 goals or something, but ten weeks later I was out of a job!’