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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Richard Fay

Manchester United duo slammed by Gary Neville after Sheffield United horror show

Gary Neville has slammed Manchester United's midfield following their weekend draw with Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Brazilian duo Andreas Pereira and Fred started for United in the 3-3 draw at Bramall Lane as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was forced to change formation in the absence of Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba.

The central midfield pairing failed to make any telling impact on the game as Sheffield United dominated proceedings with a commanding performance.

Neville was not surprised by the manner of the result considering the midfield at United's disposal, and even claimed the duo would be fortunate to play together for a mid-table club.

“I’m disappointed generally with their away performances this season, their approach to the games," Neville told Sky Sports.

"I think that defensively the system didn’t work in terms of a back five in the first half, one team knew how to play it and the other team didn’t.

“The midfield I’m not going to go into because I said yesterday that’s not a midfield, Fred and Pereira is not a midfield for a mid-table club, let alone one of the top-spending clubs in Europe, they have got injury problems in midfield to be fair."

When further pressed on the midfield issue Nevile elaborated on the lack of experience in the middle of the pitch and cited it is a key factor in their recent poor performances.

He added: "Mata is on the bench, Pogba is injured, Matic is looking to get away, Young is on the bench yesterday. The experienced players at the club at this moment in time are in turmoil a little bit. Essentially, the young lads are all out there on the pitch together.

“There is one more big thing, they don’t know how to approach a Premier League away game, they don’t understand that it’s different playing at Old Trafford than it is away from home and they haven’t got the experience or maturity."

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