Gary Neville heaped praise on one Man United player after their disappointing 3-1 defeat to rivals Man City.
The game showed up the gulf in class between the two teams and talking on the Sky Sports coverage of the show after the game (Sky Premier League, Sunday, 4pm), Graeme Souness and Gary Neville got into a heated debate about the quality of the United team.
Souness asked if Mourinho was getting the most out of his players and Neville replied, “I don’t know.”
“I’ve seen Louis van Gaal with a lot of those players and I didn’t like what I saw then. Man United don’t look like they can win a game proactively. Could another manager get more out of them? I’m not sure. I don’t think they’re good enough.
“Lukaku wasn’t a top player for Everton. He went missing every big game. Is Ashley Young playing as well as he can? Yes. Is this the same Chris Smalling we’ve seen for the last few years? Yes. Victor Lindelof is playing better than he’s ever played. De Gea’s not. It’s so confusing when you watch Man United.”
OPINION
It’s not an easy time to be a United fan. The derby game yesterday showed that Man United just aren’t on the same level as Man City. United haven’t found a winning formula since Alex Ferguson left and they’re now sitting in eighth in the league – probably the right place for them after a season where they’ve only kept one clean sheet. They came to the Etihad buoyed after a win against Juventus in midweek. But they could easily have lost that game 3-1 and they were second best in Turin too. It was a classic smash and grab by Mourinho but there was no evidence that they’d be able to do the same on Sunday. They were missing Paul Pogba but they’ve still got players on the pitch that should have been able to compete. Victor Lindelof has been one of the standout players for Mourinho this season, but that doesn’t say a lot about the rest of the players. Even David de Gea had an off day yesterday. Man United’s ambition should be to get in the top four now and that’s going to be a real achievement.