Gary Neville believes the partnership of Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo is simply too unreliable to depend upon long-term.
The pair started together for the fifth successive game on Saturday night and struggled when up against a dismal Tottenham Hotspur side.
United drop more points to winless Spurs
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
To say Spurs went the opening four matches of the season without returning a single goal, they could’ve led by at least four by the interval at Old Trafford had they been more clinical.
United were being completely torn apart in the middle of the park, allowing the visitors to stroll through and create chance after chance.
Tielemans, in particular, was up against it in the first half, making it no surprise he was the one sacrificed to make way for debutant Carlos Baleba in the 60th minute.
What Neville had to say about Mainoo and Tielemans
(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
While United’s display still left much to be desired, Baleba was a bright spark in the closing half an hour, leading Neville to say post-match on Sky Sports: “Tielemans and Mainoo, I think we’ve seen enough of it now.
“I’m not calling time on it because that’s probably too drastic, but I’ve seen enough to think that’s not a midfield that’s dynamic enough to play at this football club in the Premier League.”
“I think they are both good players, by the way, individually,” he continued. “But sometimes you just have players that don’t quite knit together or don’t quite suit each other.
”I think when Baleba came on with Mainoo, it looked like there was a lot more energy.
“There’s going to have to be something done in there, and the rest of them are going to have to get a grip because they are going to a Diego Simeone Atletico Madrid and Elland Road.
“If you’re not quite right there from a mental and physical perspective, you’re going to get found out.
“They’ve got a couple of days to recover, pick themselves up from this, and get going because if they don’t get going, it’s going to be a worrying few weeks.”
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