Phil Neville is right for once about Manchester United

Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville has said some harsh things about the club he loves in a recent podcast – and many of his points are spot on.

Phil Neville does not have the same reputation for providing insightful commentary regarding the world of football as his older brother Gary.

Nevertheless, the former Manchester United defender recently shared his thoughts regarding the current state of the club he clearly still loves – and the things he had to say were surprisingly spot on.

Appearing on the podcast The Offside Rule Exclusives, Neville had this to say about the gulf between United and their Premier League rivals:

"“When you look at [Manchester] City, Liverpool and Tottenham, their club’s foundations are really strong, and you’d say United’s are from a financial point of view, but stability on the field?“If you look at those teams, they have a system and a style of play and a tried and trusted method, whereas United seem to be going left and right from manager to manager.”"

Although it is difficult to admit, Neville is right in that there is no denying that our rivals are far ahead of us when it comes to their style of play and the way their clubs are run.

It seems that the United board only care about the financial side of the club. As long as shirt sales stay strong and the television money keeps rolling in, the executives and owners are happy.

The fans, however, want to see this money being put to good use as well as improvements to the way we play on the pitch.

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Clubs like City and Liverpool identified the weaker areas of their squad right away and put together the necessary funds to bring players in who can improve upon the ones they already had.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils are still relying on signings made when Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge, such as Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Ashley Young – all of who are clearly not fit to wear the shirt.

On the subject of how United could get back to winning ways, Neville had this to say:

"“You hope with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], Mick Phelan, Michael Carrick and Nicky Butt that United will start getting back to the foundations.“I think it will take a long time – it’s not a quick fix – but hopefully with those guys in charge and the financial muscle United have still got, they can get back challenging soon because it’s difficult watching Man City win everything.“It’s difficult because you think they’re miles better than United at this moment in time.”"

Again, the England women’s manager is right on the money – it will take time before United reaches the level of the current City squad. However, they need to start building the foundations now if they ever hope to challenge for the Premier League again.

Let’s hope that Ed Woodward listens to Neville’s advice and gives Solskjaer the necessary funds to help rebuild Manchester United in this summer transfer window and beyond.