A dejected Gary Neville was forced to admit that Manchester United 's setup against Liverpool was "truly awful" after endorsing the approach employed by interim manager Ralf Rangnick before kick-off.
The former Red Devils captain let rip at United's dire performance, thrashed 4-0 in another starkly one-sided clash between English football's two most successful clubs. Neville's old team hardly gave themselves a chance, conceding within the first five minutes before being blown away by Liverpool's attack.
Despite the Red Devils' recent poor from, going behind so early and coming into half-time 2-0 down was especially damning given they had set up with five-man defence, a formation which should be difficult for any opposition in the same division to break down. But after the interval, Rangnick brought on winger Jadon Sancho for defender Phil Jones, a decision which Neville felt was necessary following the catastrophic first half.
Asked by fellow Sky Sports commentator Jamie Carragher if Rangnick had to make the change, the ex-Red Devils right-back responded: "Look, it was worth trying to try and make Manchester United more solid. But it looked completely foreign to them. They do know the back four, they have played that in every other game under Ralf Rangnick and mainly under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"I would still say it looks pretty weak in midfield. You've got [Nemanja] Matic there on his own, Fred and [Scott] McTominay are obviously not on the pitch. So, it still looks like a big job for Manchester United but they have got a better balance. I actually liked the idea of the five before the game, but having watched it, it was truly awful."
While Rangnick's side improved in the second half and began to compete, Liverpool scored two more goals to send themselves top of the Premier League table and reaffirm the gap between the two teams at present. Post-match, Neville insisted that United were a "broken" club after claiming during the game that there was an "excuse mentality" which runs right from the top.
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"Coming to the recruitment side and what they've done over last 10 years. What United have done is bring players in with piano introductions like [Alexis] Sanchez or [Paul] Pogba. They've elevated the player above the manager at the football club. You go to Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City the manager is the primary figure at the football club," the 47-year-old explained.
"They've undermined managers over the last 10 years at Man United by elevating the players to this god-like status and the players haven't performed. The players could do better, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could've done better, Rangnick maybe could've done better."
After discussing issues with the Glazer family's ownership, Neville added: "Fundamentally the club is broken on and off the pitch. The stadium is falling apart, the training ground is falling back to second rate compared to other grounds. The owners are taking £25m out a year when the club need investment."
