Gary Neville says finishing fifth “is a must” for Manchester United this season – and hopes they “take some confidence” from Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
The Red Devils showed fight at Elland Road to earn a point against Daniel Farke’s in-form Leeds outfit as a midfield pairing of Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos provided some steel.
Sky Sports pundit and former Man Utd defender Neville hopes the draw is a “stepping stone” towards improved results in the Premier League, with Michael Carrick’s men sitting in 13th place in the table.
Man Utd are already 14 points adrift of Manchester rivals Man City, who have won all seven league games under Enzo Maresca so far this season.
Carrick’s team have only won one of their seven games, drawing four and losing twice, and Neville knows they need to climb the table between now and the festive period.
A vicious circle
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: “I would say fourth would be a birdie, fifth would be par and sixth would be a bogey.
“But they can’t finish outside the top five, because then you’re missing out on Champions League and it becomes a vicious circle.
“Then 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 £60-70 million – and you’re in the Europa League on Thursday nights.
“Fifth is a must for Michael Carrick to continue to grow and Manchester United to continue to grow with investment.
“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: ‘okay, still early in the season’.
“You can’t say that after 15 games.”
‘Has to change’
Neville continued: “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 dropping 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.”
Low expectations remain
Bryan Mbeumo has been a shining light for Man Utd so far this season and he opened the scoring on Sunday, only to see Dominic Calvert-Lewin net an equaliser after the break.
Neville added: “[There’s] a depressed standard and a low expectation right now.
“But it’ll feel like a stepping stone for Michael Carrick, and it’ll feel like the first step on the ladder in the Premier League.
“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.
“I just wonder whether that Santos-Baleba partnership is going to stay there for a bit and let a couple of [the attacking players] float around in front and be a lot more solid – make sure we’re not giving as much space away.
“I’m sick of Manchester United’s team being easy to play against, and Michael Carrick will be sick of it.”
READ NEXT: F1 news: Laurent Mekies signs Red Bull contract extension until 2031
