Gary Neville has launched a scathing attack on the current Manchester United squad and believes manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must make immediate changes at Old Trafford.
United endured a miserable time last season, failing to secure a top-four Premier League finish that ultimately leaves them without Champions League football for the forthcoming campaign.
Solskjaer has already stepped up his bid to add fresh faces to his squad by bringing in young winger Daniel James from Swansea while another highly-rated prospect, Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, is expected to arrive this summer.
But Neville, who spent his entire playing career at United, has identified a lack of leaders as a huge problem and reckons Solskjaer must add some experience to his ranks.
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“When I was playing you always had three groups – the guardians, the middle group and the younger ones,” Neville told the Soccer Science Conference.
“When I started in the first team, there were players like Paul Ince and Roy Keane and one bad pass was regarded as an absolute crime.
“Manchester United doesn’t have the guardians now. Absolutely not, no. There are some good professionals there, Juan Mata for instance, Ander Herrera, when he was there, and Scott McTominay – you can see he’s a good lad and wants to play football.
“But I don’t think they carry the influence in the dressing room to be able to dominate the culture and that’s a real problem.
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“In any business, in any football team if the guardians in the dressing room, the ones who have the influence, are not setting the example, then you have a big problem and have to clear them out.”
Neville, who won eight Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns with the club, also feels United should replicate Tottenham’s rebuilding template.
“I love Ole to bits. Whoever he feels is not aligned to the principles of Manchester United, he has to get rid of them,” he added.
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“I remember when Mauricio Pochettino went to Tottenham , I went to see him and he had this board split in two – the ones he wanted to work with and the ones he didn’t.
“Look at Tottenham now. He did a brilliant job, along with whoever helped him on the recruitment side in the first two or three years.
“But he had to make some tough decisions and the club had to lose money to get it right and that’s what United will have to do.”
