Gary Neville believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has inherited a Manchester United squad similar to the one at Jurgen Klopp's disposal when he first arrived at Liverpool.
And as a result it will take the Norwegian around three to four years to achieve what Klopp has achieved at Liverpool , and turn the Red Devils back into European powerhouses.
Manchester United have suffered a decline following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and have had four permanent managers since his departure.
Solskjaer showed the rest of the league he is looking to sign young homegrown players in the summer, landing Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils spent big money last month as a result, but Solskjaer is still someway away from getting it right.
Neville doesn't think this is cause for concern, as it took Klopp a few years to turn Liverpool into Champions League winners.
"It does take time," said Neville on his Sky Sports podcast.
"Solskjaer is working more with a squad like the one Klopp picked up at Liverpool than the one Guardiola inherited at City. From that point of view this is going to be a long game at Old Trafford and it's going to be frustrating at times.
"There are going to be results like Southampton, Wolves and Crystal Palace along the way, but when you watch the team a lot of the principles are correct.
"They seem to be playing the right way. You see Daniel James score that goal (at St Mary's) and you see the way in which they are trying to play.
"The style of it is right. The bones are there but there's still a very long way to go, and it's going to be bumpy along the way."
