Gary Neville has warned Michael Carrick that he will face a problem if Manchester United are still struggling in December or January, insisting their fortunes must change in the coming weeks. The warning follows a 1-1 draw with Leeds United that left the club 13th in the Premier League table, having won just one of their opening seven matches.
Carrick's side are now on a six-game winless run stretching back to their 4-0 victory over Sabah at Old Trafford. Despite the poor run, Neville deems the draw against Leeds a positive step forward and considers the next league match against Bournemouth vitally important.
Neville Sees Draw as a Stepping Stone
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit described a "depressed standard and a low expectation right now," but said the result "will feel like a stepping stone for Michael Carrick, and it'll feel like the first step on the ladder in the Premier League."
Neville suggested the performance could provide a blueprint, noting: "They may take some confidence from that, and there might be a blueprint there, maybe we have to bring Matheus Cunha, Marcus Rashford and others off the bench, and we might just have to have a go at being more solid." Cunha only made a late cameo at Elland Road, while Rashford did not feature at all.
Top-Five Finish Is a Must
Looking longer-term, Neville set clear expectations: "I would say fourth would be a birdie, fifth would be par, and sixth would be a bogey." He argued the club cannot finish outside the top five because that would mean missing out on the Champions League.
"It becomes a vicious circle," he said. "You can't get those players because they want to play in the Champions League, and you can't get the money from it, and you've lost the £60m-£70m, and you're in the Europa League on Thursday nights."
January Deadline Looms
Neville stressed that fifth place is essential for Carrick to continue growing and for Manchester United to grow with investment. He warned: "If they're 13th in January, he's got a problem because then you are what you are, whereas I think it's still early enough, seven points from seven games, to say, 'OK, still early in the season'; you can't say that after 15 games."
He concluded: "It has to change in the next few weeks: Bournemouth is really important, and Chelsea away, and how he manages the games in between that. You've got to say fifth; you know that anything less than fifth is going to be a disappointment and a drop in standard from the start of the season, where everybody expected them to finish, and at the moment, they're well short of that because you look at Brighton, Liverpool, Aston Villa - they look like they're picking up a little bit, it's difficult."
