Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has criticised Manchester United’s forwards, remarking on how they need to offer much more than they already do.
One of those forwards – Anthony Martial – netted a brace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to earn a 2-2 draw with rivals Chelsea, but Neville thinks that “there is so much talent” that needs to be put on offer a lot more.
He even commented on how the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Rashford can learn from Liverpool forwards Mo Salah and Sadio Mane by making more runs – and that they need to find themselves in goal scoring positions a lot more regularly.
“They need more from the front three, there’s so much talent there. If you think of Lukaku, [Alexis] Sanchez, Martial and Rashford, they need more from them. I want to see more runs past Lukaku,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast via Sky Sports.
“I want the two wide players, whoever they are – you see what Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah do for Liverpool, how they make those narrow runs inside.
“I’m not saying they have to play narrow but wherever you start, you’ve got to end up in goalscoring positions more often and you’ve got to show that little bit of quality and composure in the final third.”
OPINION
Even though Manchester United impressed a little bit in the game against Chelsea, Neville is right – the forwards can offer a lot more than they already do. They are not as prolific as they were last season, but they have the potential to score bagfuls of goals if they put that little bit more effort in. As Neville pointed out, they need to get into goalscoring positions more often – something which they are lacking in abundance at the moment. If they can manage to do this, then the goals will flood in – but until they do, United are at a standstill in front of goal. He even remarked how they could look to the likes of Salah and Mane, who do the job effectively for Liverpool. He is right though – they must look to this duo if they want to start being more potent in front of goal.