Martin O’Neil has slammed one Manchester United defender after a poor performance against Nottingham Forest in a 1-0 defeat on Tuesday evening.
After a long 90 minutes, Manchester United failed to break down Nottingham Forest despite several good chances.
While nobody had a standout performance for United, Martin O’Neil called out one particular player for his poor performance at the City Ground.
Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu joined the Red Devils in January and has impressed since, but he struggled to make an impact against Forest.
Former manager O’Neil slammed the full-back, claiming, “I could have done what he did,” at 73 years old.
O’Neil analyses Dorgu’s poor performance
Speaking after the game, the former Republic of Ireland boss was asked about his opinion on the United team while on air with TNT Sports.
“They had Dorgu playing tonight. I could have done what he did. He’s got the ball, he’s wide left-hand side. You’re saying, come on, your job is to take players on. Come on, get at players.”
“He’s laid it inside three times in the first ten minutes of the second half to the opposition, and he’s given them the ball. So either no confidence, I don’t know what it is, but these type of things are just all over the field at Manchester United.”
While he doesn’t believe Dorgu is good enough, O’Neil did comment on the quality of some United players.
“They’ve got some really good players. Obviously, Bruno Fernandes is a top-quality player. But as I said at the start of the programme, they haven’t enough good players to be a threat in this league. And when I’m talking about a threat for Manchester United, I’m talking about into the top four.”
Good signs for United
Despite the negativity from O’Neil, this was an improvement on most performances for Ruben Amorim’s side.
Read More: Player Ratings – Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester United (Premier League)
Several times this season, United haven’t played good football but have found themselves gaining points through individual quality, usually coming from Bruno Fernandes.
While they didn’t win or even score against Forest, the Red Devils showed signs that they can play attacking football, but they weren’t prepared for the tactic change from Nuno Espirito Santo.
Ola Aina was forced off due to injury in the first half, and as such, Forest changed to a five-defender formation with two holding midfielders in front. United could not break them down from this point due to a lack of creativity and final ball success.
If Forest hadn’t suffered an injury, Amorim could have been one point better off in United’s worst Premier League campaign ever.
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