Former Manchester United skipper Gary Neville has urged Jose Mourinho to take a bold measure of selling his central midfielders including Paul Pogba if they don’t work out as planned for the team. Neville feels a lot of work still needs to be done, and patience is paramount. However, he believes that the experiments should only be tried until January. As much as the ex- captain's faith in the manager, Neville has conversely questioned the results of a £170m spent on central midfielders in the last three years.
Paul Pogba was bought for a world record fee of £89 million this summer window. However, the prodigal son of Manchester United has not lived up to his expectations on his return. Meanwhile, Marouane Fellaini is still struggling to cement a place based on his merits, and Morgan Schneiderlin has mostly been used in cameo roles this season.
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“There is a lot of work to do for United, but as a United fan I am not alarmed,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I thought that they would be better at the start of the season. Maybe that was a thought of Mourinho having a massive impact, but when you look at it [on Sunday], that’s not a Jose Mourinho team at all.
“He has got to work with them; he’s got to get more out of them. He can’t do anything over the next three months, and it will be difficult in January.”
Jose Mourinho is a manager who likes to play a predilected side once it finds its balance. Well aware of his management, Neville feels the job is complex after himself admitting to not knowing what the best XI is. Furthermore, he has backed the Portuguese to figure it out and urged him to make bold decisions if required.
“I have to say when I look at United I still don't know what their best XI is. Mourinho is still early in his reign; he is identifying his best players, his best XI, his best partnerships.
“To be fair, United have to trust him and will trust him to get it right over the next couple of transfer windows, because if you look at their midfield, they have Pogba, Schneiderlin, and Fellaini; that is £170m spent on central midfielders in the last three years, and I still don't know which is the best pairing. Mourinho has got to try and build a pair or replace them.”
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