Former captain Gary Neville has accused Manchester United's hierarchy of not giving manager Erik ten Hag the "tools he needs" following the club's opening day defeat to Brighton.
United fell to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday, with old nemesis Pascal Gross netting a first-half brace to set Graham Potter's side on their way to an opening day triumph. United did pull a goal back in the second-half, courtesy of an Alexis Mac Allister own-goal.
But Ten Hag's team were poor in just about every department, struggling to create many clear-cut opportunities. Bruno Fernandes had United's best chance in the first-half while the scores were level at 0-0 but blazed his effort over the crossbar.
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag surprised by tactical change in Manchester United defeat to Brighton
Ten Hag awarded debuts to two of his three summer signings, with Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen both handed starting berths. Eriksen, to almost everyone's surprise, was deployed as a striker, with Cristiano Ronaldo only named among the substitutes. Fellow new recruit Tyrell Malacia came off the bench.
Following the full-time whistle, reports grew stronger and stronger that United are interested in signing former West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic from Italian club Bologna. Ten Hag knows the Austrian from their time together at FC Twente several years ago.
The news prompted Neville to hit out at United's recruitment strategy this summer, as he questioned their decision to mainly target players that Ten Hag knows from the Netherlands. He also criticised the club for not giving the manager the right players to conduct the transformation that is required.
"You've got to look at every bit of the recruitment," Neville told Sky Sports. "To rely on the Dutch league... so you've got 50-60 people working in that department and they're not being trusted because he wants to go to players he knows in Holland.
"Holland has not always been a precise market for the Premier League, it just hasn't. There have been good players but it's not the market that has the biggest hit rate, so I am concerned about that.
"Generally, at this moment in time, there's a bit of despair that this coach, who is an outstanding coach, has not been given the tools he needs to start the season, so he can start the season with a new, revitalised squad."
Although Neville didn't hold back in his criticism of United as a collective, he refused to take aim at Ten Hag, recognising the size of the task that the 52-year-old is facing.
The former right-back continued: "I' m not going to have a go at the coach, the coach needs time. I'm not even going to have a go at the players anymore, because if you've got a business, and the people who are working in the business who can't do their job, you remove them.
"It's actually abuse to keep them in the jobs for longer because they don't enjoy it now. The players need supporting or replacing.
"Seriously, the money to rebuild that squad... I'm not getting eccentric or exaggerating, but they knew six, eight, 12 months ago that they needed to invest in the summer because players like [Juan] Mata and [Nemanja] Matic were leaving, they knew they had the problem with [Anthony] Martial, [Edinson] Cavani and Ronaldo at the end."
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