Gary Neville and Roy Keane criticise Man United star, but blame must be placed elsewhere

Gary Neville and Roy Keane have both criticised one Manchester United star but the blame must be placed elsewhere.

The Reds have faced a tough start to the season, managing just one Premier League win in their first three games.

A 3-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool came after a last-minute setback against Brighton last weekend.

Though their opening victory over Fulham offered some positives, Erik ten Hag’s squad still has a lot of work ahead.

Neville and Keane criticise Dalot

Speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville and Roy Keane were assessing the Liverpool defeat and both agreed that Diogo Dalot’s high positioning as the left-back was a problem.

“Dalot is too high. Dalot is, I think, 10 yards too wide and too high,” Neville said when discussing Liverpool’s third goal of the game. “He has to be a little bit more careful.

“I do reflect upon that and think Dalot probably could have been a little bit more conservative.”

Keane added: “Part of you must be going, ‘I’ve done something drastically wrong here. I am 10, 15 yards (out of position) and someone is running at my goal!’.

“At some point, you must think; ‘I am a defender, my priority is to defend the goal’.”

Blame must be placed with Ten Hag

Ten Hag might get too much flak in certain areas, but this is something that is a clear instruction in possession for United’s fullbacks. It comes from the manager.

While you can always argue that a player can assess the potential danger on their own, all three goals came from unexpected and sloppy giveaways from midfield that would be difficult for many players to predict.

If Dalot drops deeper and United beats the press, then Ten Hag and pundits would criticise the fullback for not being in the advanced area he was supposed to be in.

Whether or not the approach works is a debate to be had, but the players must follow the manager’s instructions, and it doesn’t seem like Keane or Neville considered that in their analysis.

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