Gary Neville believes Manchester United’s players have been ‘psychologically damaged’ after watching Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City improve their squads with new signings.
Neville branded United’s players ‘pathetic’ after their 6-1 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
But the former United defender believes the club’s failure to significantly bolster Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad in the current transfer window has had a negative impact on the team.
‘There’s no excuse for those 11 players out on that pitch today because they were absolutely pathetic,’ Neville told Sky Sports.
‘Their body language was terrible, it was spiritless and spineless in that second half. ‘
But I think when you’ve got a squad that lacks resilience, the know-how how to win, you’re then thinking about the off-pitch stuff with Harry Maguire and Mason Greenwood, you start thinking around the darkness around recruitment and not getting the players.
‘They see Liverpool sign players, they see City sign players, they see Chelsea sign players.
‘The minute Spurs go 2-1 up it’s almost as if all those negative thoughts drain every single little bit of confidence out of them. ‘Not right – but that’s what’s happened here. I think ultimately these players at this moment in time felt as though they wanted support.
‘Luke Shaw a couple of weeks ago said, ‘we need players’. Good players, really good players, don’t mind other good players coming into the dressing room.
‘I’m sure Liverpool’s players when Thiago came in grew 10 feet tall because they knew they were being made better by a great player coming in. ‘I think these Manchester United players expected to get some help.
They’ve not helped themselves today because their own reputations have been damaged because that was nowhere near good enough.
But the off-the-pitch stuff doesn’t help. ‘And it’s the psychological damage of Manchester United not bringing the players in that I also think is hampering the players’ thoughts.’
