Neville says Man United needs more than just firing Carrick

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has warned that just changing managers won't fix the club's ongoing issues. He believes the team needs major changes in its structure to turn things around.

Neville spoke after United fired head coach Michael Carrick. Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is being considered as his replacement.

Carrick left less than six months after signing a two-year deal. His time at the club was tough, marked by the worst start to a Premier League season in history. United managed only one win in ten matches and fell into the relegation zone.

In an interview with NBC on Thursday, Neville said the club might keep making the same mistake of hiring new managers. They might see a short-term boost, then fall back into poor form.

“Michael Carrick did that last season, so you can paper over the cracks and get a new manager bounce.

“When the new manager comes in, everybody’s happy for a couple of months and all of a sudden, six months later, it happens again. You can keep changing the manager and thinking that’s going to be the answer. But this has been proven now over 12 years; that’s not the answer,” he said.

Neville mentioned past United managers like Ruben Amorim, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, and Ralf Rangnick. He believes their inability to bring lasting success points to bigger problems at the club.

He pointed out weaknesses in the club’s performance and recruitment teams. He also noted a lack of strong leadership.

“If you’ve got a poor performance department, poor recruitment department, you’ve not got leadership that is strong right through the spine of the football club, you will fail,” he said.

The former England defender added that United needs solid leadership from the boardroom to the players on the field.

“There are real issues within that football club. You’ve got people doing those jobs who have never done those jobs before in senior positions,” Neville added.