Gary Neville claimed only one Manchester United player would get in Tottenham’s team after Ruben Amorim’s side lost to Spurs.
United’s dismal season went from bad to worse on Sunday as the injury-hit Red Devils suffered their 12th Premier League defeat of the season.
Manchester United named eight uncapped teenagers on the bench after losing several players – including in-form winger Amad Diallo – to injury and illness this week.
But United were up against a Tottenham team who themselves have battled widespread injury issues this season and were still without star defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
James Maddison’s first-half goal was enough for Spurs to return to winning ways following successive cup defeats to Liverpool and Aston Villa.
It was another disappointing afternoon for Manchester United but Neville was not surprised by the outcome as he believes only one Old Trafford player – Bruno Fernandes – would get in the Spurs team.
‘We talk about the Manchester United players not being good enough,’ Neville said on Sky Sports after the match.
‘Take Tottenham’s best players, [Pedro] Porro, [Destiny] Udogie, [Micky] Van de Ven, [Cristian] Romero, [Yves] Bissouma, [Pape] Sarr, [James] Maddison, [Dominic] Solanke, [Dejan] Kulusevski, [Heung-min] Son, [Brennan] Johnson, [Mathys] Tel.
‘How many Manchester United players would get into that Tottenham team if everyone was fit? I think Bruno Fernandes would, you’d want him in there.
‘Maybe Amad but to be honest if it’s a choice between Kulusevski or Amad, I’d probably go with Kulusevski.
‘So my point is every single Tottenham player barring one is better than every single Manchester United player.
‘That’s not being emotional or ranting, it’s just really sad that that’s where Man United are currently at, they haven’t got the players.
‘There’s a lot of uncertainly on and off the pitch and hopefully Ruben Amorim is given the time to rebuild over the next two years but every single Tottenham player gets into the Man United team – probably except for Bruno – and that’s a problem.’
Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt refused to blame the club’s sudden injury crisis on the Spurs defeat and admitted the Red Devils ‘lacked’ hunger in the final third.
Amorim expects Amad to be out for the rest of the season after picking up a serious ankle injury in training, while Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Mason Mount, Christian Eriksen and Luke Shaw are all currently sidelined.
‘If you lose it’s never enough,’ De Ligt told Sky Sports. ‘We can speak about the personal problems, the injuries, but Tottenham have the same problems. If you lose, it is never enough.
‘We played OK and created some chances. But if you lose 1-0, you didn’t score and conceded one, so we needed to improve at both ends.
‘I think the urgency, the hunger to score, that is something that may be lacking. That’s not only on the attackers, it’s also on the midfield and the defenders. It’s a team thing and we definitely need to improve.
‘I think you can say [confidence] has taken a real hit. Especially in the Premier League, if you lose the confidence you lose the game.
‘We still had a starting XI with first-team players. It’s no excuse. It’s not nice when you lose five players in one week, but that’s part of football, part of life.
‘I believe you have to deserve fortune. At the moment, apparently we don’t deserve it. I don’t believe in fortune coming out of nowhere.’
Manchester United will be desperate to respond next weekend when they face rejuvenated Everton at Goodison Park, while Tottenham will look to build on this momentum against struggling Ipswich Town.
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