Gary Neville has said that the Manchester United defenders who finished the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa could see the club relegated. The Red Devils staged a late comeback with two goals in added time to salvage a point, having twice trailed by two goals during the match.
United have now conceded more goals than any other team in Europe's major leagues in all competitions. Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui played the full 90 minutes, with Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu coming off the bench. Neville took aim at those four players after the game.
Neville's criticism of United's defensive investment
Neville, speaking on NBC Sports, said: "The reason Manchester United have conceded four goals is because they haven't invested in the defence in the transfer window. Every one knew they had to do that, they needed defenders. The current ones are making mistake after mistake after mistake."
He added: "The defenders that finished that game will get you relegated. Watch the defensive errors… we all screamed in the transfer window that they have to bring some defenders in. They had to bring the transfer budget forward and bring defenders in."
United have not made a major signing in defence for more than two years. Instead, they spent their entire £155 million summer budget on midfielders Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. That decision has backfired, with the team shipping 19 goals in their 10 Premier League games.
Relegation zone and club reaction
Lisandro Martinez, who did not play and was signed in 2022, has publicly criticised the board for failing to equip the squad. He named Jason Wilcox weeks ago and criticised him for not adding to the playing group.
The draw with Aston Villa, whose manager Unai Emery was left angry at the late collapse, means United go into the international break in the relegation zone. Their 18th-place position is their lowest after 10 top-flight games since 1986/87, when they were 20th.
