Gary Neville outlines fears over Man Utd dressing room after Brighton defeat

18 September 2023 , 08:21

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Gary Neville outlines fears over Man Utd dressing room after Brighton defeat

Gary Neville is concerned that dressing room unrest could haunt Erik ten Hag in the wake of Manchester United's poor start to the season.

The Red Devils have now lost three of their opening five games so far this term in the Premier League following their chastening 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton on Saturday.

A myriad of off-field issues have also plagued United during the early weeks of the campaign, including Ten Hag's public spat with Jadon Sancho, who was banished from first-team training in the build-up to the weekend. It remains to be seen if there is any way back for the forward, who is now training in the club's academy facilities.

Sancho is unlikely to be the only unhappy player in the Old Trafford dressing room, with other high-profile names like Harry Maguire also out of contention. And Neville believes that those players could pose a problem behind the scenes.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said: "[Ten Hag] will continue to keep doing what he is doing, which is following his beliefs, his values, his principles. The only thing I would say is, how popular is Sancho in the dressing room? How popular is Maguire in the dressing room?

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"This discomfort and uncertainty is being created on the inside. You have got a player at the moment, who is probably changing in the first-team dressing room but is obviously over with the academy.

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Gary Neville is concerned that dressing room unrest could cause problems for Erik ten Hag (Sky Sports)

"You have got Harry Maguire, who was captain of these players 12 months ago by the way, who is now almost in some ways alienated and is now third, fourth, fifth-choice centre-half.

"So, he's got some situations in there and I don't know the damage that they are having. But in terms of his work on the pitch, I don't think Erik ten Hag will change, and the fact of the matter is that there have been many a manager, good managers, over the last 10 or 12 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left who have found challenges at Manchester United."

Whilst Sancho is unlikely to feature any time soon for United as things stand, the games are coming thick and fast for his Old Trafford teammates. The Red Devils travel to German champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday night as they open their Champions League campaign before playing Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday night.

Dan Marsh