Gary Neville: Man Utd need cultural overhaul of 'mediocre' squad – but Liverpool remind me of Sir Alex Ferguson's team | Football News

Gary Neville has called for a “cultural overhaul” at Manchester United and also labeled the squad as “mediocre” following their 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim's side failed to build on their dramatic 2-1 win against Manchester City last weekend and will now continue to languish in the bottom half of the Premier League table as Christmas approaches.

Meanwhile, Liverpool sit pretty high on the table after an impressive 6-3 win against Tottenham Hotspur, who Sky Sports pounds Jamie Carragher called “performance of a champion” from Arne Slot's team.

Speaking on his latest podcast, Neville assessed the contrasting situations at each club…

'United's team is mediocre and must change

I think it's a big positive that Ruben Amorim sees what he has. There were times in the past when you could fool yourself into thinking you had a better group of players, due to decent results and promotion in the league.

But they are a mile apart in every way.

Playing the way Amorim wants to play, with a 3-4-3, he will have to change that. He gave everyone a try by rotating the team and I don't think there will be many that he looked at and thought, 'yeah, I want you on the bus'.

They are all very mediocre, and I don't know how it happened – they are better than what they portray, let's face it. But that's the pattern.

Well done to Bournemouth, it's two years on the bounce and Andoni Iraola is doing a fantastic job. It is a big positive that Amorim can look at these players in the cold light of day.

There are six months of beauty parades if you like – the more the ugly parade. He sees what Manchester United fans have been watching for 10 years, there has to be a cultural change.

It's a really hectic time, there's not much to like about the performance level or the way they're playing. They are all lads who are doing their best, it is not a personal attack, but they are not good enough to play for Manchester United, because this club aims to be in the top.

Same as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea – those clubs aim to be top, but you have to get there.

It is quite clear looking at these players, they are not good enough.

'Liverpool reminds me of Ferguson's United'

There may be parts of this Liverpool team that remind me of the Manchester United team I played for.

I see David Beckham here on the right, where Trent Alexander-Arnold puts in incredible crosses, I see running in behind and sending a lot of bodies forward, but mostly I see different styles of football in play.

For these eight years we have been conditioned by this ideology, where you have a fixed philosophy of the game, but I don't see that with Liverpool.

I can see them playing with three or four different styles within the same match. I see them playing long passes to the attackers, sometimes on the counterattack, sometimes deep and compact, they start with high pressure and then change.

Whatever the game needs and demands, they have the ability to do it.

If the team is pressing, they can chip in, dig in together, be compact and defend as a unit. If the game is there to go, they will overcommit and push with a high lane, but they don't play any style continuously throughout the game.

There are times when you see Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister in the middle controlling the game, slowing it down, keeping possession.

We're conditioned to think that a team has to play one way, and you can't adapt to be a team that plays differently in different games.

I thought the element of that was gone, where the players became a bit robotic: 'I'll do what the coach tells me.'

This Liverpool team has an independent mindset, that they know what a game needs. That's what it reminds me of us, and Liverpool are so much better than I ever thought they would be this season.