Phil Neville says Manchester United lost its sporting identity

Phil Neville says Manchester United lost its sporting identity after the departures of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill in 2013. The former Manchester United defender was part of David Moyes’s coaching staff when he returned to Old Trafford after Ferguson’s departure. Neville believes the club’s problems were not confined to that period and that its structural issues have persisted.

Having experienced the club as a player during its successful years, he says he was struck by the change behind the scenes.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The focus was no longer on the pitch. The manager didn’t have the final say and couldn’t choose the signings. Transfers were based purely on the players’ fame, how many followers they had and the sponsorship revenue they could generate. I was shocked. I hated it, I really did,” Neville said.

He believes the problems David Moyes faced during his ten months in charge were not unique to that spell. “What I experienced in those ten months with David Moyes is no different from what José Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, Ruben Amorim, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now Michael Carrick are facing. The club needs to be organised from top to bottom!” he said.

Neville also links the loss of direction to the simultaneous departures of Ferguson and chief executive David Gill. In his view, their leadership had provided a clear chain of command. “There was Sir Alex Ferguson as manager and David Gill as CEO, who was disciplined. The manager was disciplined and they ran the club. I know the Glazers were already there at the time — the fans had never been happier with them — but they ran the club from top to bottom. Whatever they said happened,” he said.

He places the break the following year, with the arrival of a new manager and chief executive: “Suddenly, it became a circus. A real circus where the manager lost control.” With Manchester United going through another difficult period, Neville argues that the issues extend beyond the manager’s identity. He names PSG, Brighton, Aston Villa and Arsenal among clubs where he sees alignment from top to bottom, and says Manchester United lacks that coherence.