Gary Neville says defensive problems could be an issue for Manchester United this season, after their late collapse against Everton.
United surrendered a lead at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday when Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time to secure a 2-2 draw.
The result leaves United with four points from their first three Premier League games and has prompted Neville to question whether Michael Carrick can prevent the weaknesses that affected the previous regimes at Old Trafford.
Neville believes United failed to kill the game before Everton mounted their late comeback. “Teams think they’ve got a chance against them,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast. “I thought they were a little bit complacent and I was saying it after the first goal, they lacked that killer instinct before that period when Everton equalised and then they react again.”
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The former United captain also questioned Carrick’s decision to change his defence late in the game. Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot were withdrawn for Noussair Mazraoui and Leny Yoro respectively as United sought to protect their advantage.
Neville felt the changes exposed a problem that has persisted through recent manager changes.
“I don’t think it’s going to go away and that’s my big fear,” Neville said. “I think conceding goals is going to chase them and hunt them down the road.”
Neville was particularly puzzled by Shaw’s withdrawal with five minutes remaining, given that United had their strongest available back four on the pitch before the changes.
“I don’t know how Michael deals with it because he’s got his best back four on the pitch,” he said. “I don’t know why Shaw went off with five minutes to go – hopefully he’s not injured.”
