Gary Neville Says Ten Hag’s Signing Should Not Be At Manchester United

Manchester United played into Newcastle’s hands by showing indecisiveness at the back. But they were no better at the other end in their 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park.

Newcastle sensed they were going to have a good game after noticing David de Gea’s lack of confidence during goal-kicks, as per their winger Jacob Murphy. The Red Devils never managed to convincingly come out of their half as they kept giving away the ball due to their lack of technicality.

But the sub-par quality was glaring in the final third as well, with Wout Weghorst, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes failing to test Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope. United could only muster one shot on target – a tame Antony effort – in the 90 minutes to the Magpies’ six.

Weghorst, in particular, endured another frustrating afternoon in front of the goal and extended his goalless run in the Premier League for United to nine games.

The Burnley loanee, who was signed in January, has managed just two goals in all competitions since his arrival in January. However, despite his lack of goals, Weghorst has been a net positive for Erik ten Hag, especially when compared to his predecessor Cristiano Ronaldo.

In his analysis for Monday Night Football, Neville highlighted that United have won more games (12) and scored more goals (37) with the Dutch striker than they did with Ronaldo up front (9 wins and 23 goals).

However, despite Weghorst’s superior numbers, Neville suggested he isn’t good enough to be a centre-forward for United.

The full-back turned pundit said: “Weghorst, against Newcastle, was really poor. I don’t want to over-emphasise it because I don’t think he should be [at the club], but the fact of the matter is, he is there and the reason he plays every single game under Ten Hag is because of those stats.”