Manchester United travel to second-placed Leicester City on Boxing Day, trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool by just five points, and with a game in hand on their rivals; United beat Everton 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals
Saturday 26 December 2020 07:14, UK
Gary Neville discusses whether Manchester United need to enter the January transfer market and if manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can ever afford not to have Bruno Fernandes or Harry Maguire in his starting line-up.
United beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park on Wednesday night to progress to the Carabao Cup semi-finals, where they will face rivals Manchester City.
As a result, Solskjaer's side have now won their last 14 away games in all competitions, a run that has seen the club move to within just five points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, and with a game in hand on the champions.
Solskjaer himself has played down the suggestion United are title contenders, insisting "it is not something we talk about", so what does the club's former captain think?
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"If the right player is available then yes, Manchester United should go into the January transfer market because they need to improve the team," said the Sky Sports pundit on the Gary Neville podcast.
"But if the player is not there, they won't panic, they have been doing things a bit better in the market in recent years.
"What I would say is that Manchester United are a confusing bunch, two or three weeks ago you looked and this team and thought it would be a tough old season. They went out of Europe, the performance in the first half at West Ham was really poor, I was there.
If the right player in available then yes, Manchester United should go into the January transfer market because they need to improve the team
"But if you look at the result at Everton, the glass is half full. The squad has been used after the performance against Leeds, where they were brilliant. Six goals against Leeds then nine changes against Everton, everyone is involved and playing.
"Leicester is a big game on Boxing Day, but if they were to go there and win, they would really be gathering some confidence. Contrast that to a couple of weeks ago where there were questions over the manager's job - not from me, I always thought Ole should get to the end of this season as a minimum.
"But as he walked off the pitch at Goodison with a smile on his face, the fans will be happy, the players on the pitch have a lot of quality and if they can just get into a rhythm and start to produce performances, real performances over 90 minutes, there's a bunch of players with big character and quality. They have not moulded together yet as a team, but they are getting better, they are getting stronger, they have match-winners."
"Fernandes is irreplaceable, without him I wouldn't say they were nowhere near, that's probably too strong, but they are certainly a way off without. He is a vital piece of the jigsaw.
"With Maguire, my gut feeling is that United would miss him enormously if he was missing. He's a big presence at the heart of that defence, he's good on the ball, composed, good in the air and doesn't make too many mistakes. Yes, he will get caught one on one at times, but he's a really good centre-back.
"I'm not sure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could afford to leave both Maguire and Fernandes out of the team, because he's not in a position where he has the luxury to lose a game. If they hadn't beaten Everton, the talk of United not winning a trophy would have come up again, so Solskjaer is still in that period whereby he's building trust.
"But if they can beat Leicester, win a couple more games in the New Year they have got a chance of having a really good season. The ambition at the start of the season for everyone at Manchester United was to get closer to Liverpool and Manchester City, and they are closer. Maybe not close enough, but closer."
Manchester United are in contention having barely performed this season - how good could they be if they actually clicked?
In the last Pitch to Post Review of 2020, Jasper Taylor is joined by Gerard Brand and Ben Ransom to discuss Manchester United's chaotic 6-2 win over Leeds, and whether in fact Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are title contenders (04:12). As for Leeds, we analyse Marcelo Bielsa's unapologetic style, and whether it can last (13:00).
The shambles at Arsenal continues as they are beaten at Everton, and after Mikel Arteta channels his inner Rafa Benitez with a list of statistics, the panel provide some other damning metrics (16:47).
In the Regional Review, Adam Bate discusses West Brom, Aston Villa and Wolves (32:59), and in part four we look at Tottenham's defeat by Leicester as Jose Mourinho was played at his own game to cap off a bad week (42:36).
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