Manchester United legend Gary Neville has admitted that Ruben Amorim’s side have lost their “edge” in games in the Premier League.
The Red Devils lost to Brentford in their last game, and also recently lost 1-0 at home to Wolves, continuing a dire domestic campaign.
Man Utd are all the way down in 15th place in the Premier League, having picked up just 39 points so far, losing 16 games and having a goal difference of minus nine.
This is far from good enough for a club of United’s size, but the Europa League has been one consolation for them.
Gary Neville on the Europa League’s impact on Manchester United
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fact that the league campaign is pretty much gone anyway means, in Neville’s view, that Amorim and co. have lost their edge in domestic games.
The focus seems to be entirely on winning the Europa League, with MUFC now on the brink of reaching the final and therefore securing Champions League qualification.
“The edge in the league has gone,” Neville said on this week’s episode of The Overlap.
“United – the edge is gone. The edge was just off – the game they lose the edges off United because of the Europa League.”
Are Man United right to just focus on Europe?
Neville is probably right that United just can’t quite juggle these two competitions with their current squad, but that’s surely not the kind of standard a club like this wants to be getting used to.
Neville’s fellow pundit Roy Keane was certainly far from impressed, questioning why winning the Europa League means the team need to drop points against teams like Brentford and Wolves.
Amorim might do well if he picks up a trophy and gets United into the Champions League next season, but it’s also clear that huge improvements need to be made on this Premier League campaign, and that silverware mustn’t be allowed to paper over the cracks.
