Gary Neville explains why Manchester United are in a ‘desperate position’ after defeat by Arsenal

Former United defender believes United lacked ‘confidence and urgency’ in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal and feels the root problem lies in the lack of balance and shape in Solskjaer’s midfield

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United are in a ‘desperate position’, says Gary Neville (Getty)

Gary Neville believes Manchester United are in a “desperate position” following their Premier League defeat by Arsenal because of their failure to find a balanced line-up among their bloated midfield.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side languish down in 15th after their worst start to a league campaign in 40 years, with three defeats in their six matches so far this season, and they sit six points off the top four already this season, with leaders Liverpool a further three points adrift.

Their Premier League struggles contract with their form in Europe, with wins over Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig putting United in a strong position to progress to the knockout stages this season, thanks largely to the switch to a diamond-shape midfield formation.

But the same tactic has not worked in the Premier League, and Neville believes the problem lies in United being left too exposed by an unbalanced midfield shape that lacked “confidence and urgency” in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat.

"You can't put it down to the fans not being in because we've known that situation for some time now. They had a problem at the back-end of last season - they struggled against Southampton, West Ham - and it's continued into this season in the league,” Neville wrote in his Sky Sports column.

"The performances have been really poor with a real lack or urgency. United thought they'd found the solution to this incredible amount of midfielders they have - six of them - by playing a diamond and trying to get four of them in. Solskjaer thought he'd found the system against RB Leipzig but it's not going to be as easy as that. It's a big pitch at Old Trafford.

"They had no balance, particularly on the right - I never thought Scott McTominay being there worked at all. He did change it at half-time and it was a little better but there's a real problem of confidence and lack of urgency aligned with inconsistency with regards to shape and team selection. It's getting worse, too. Does Edinson Cavani come in? Does Donny van de Beek come in? Where does Pogba play? Do you need McTominay and Fred both in there because they seem to win the ball back? It's creating more confusion.”

The subject has been discussed repeatedly due to the issue surrounding Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes, with United’s two key midfielders so far struggling to gel together that resulted in Solskjaer dropping the former for their European clash with Leipzig last week.

With £35m summer signing Donny van de Beek also pressing for a place in the side along with Fred, Nemanja Matic and McTominay, Solskjaer is far from settled on his best midfield selection, which appears to also be causing the manager issues during the game when things aren’t going United’s way.

"I had a long discussion with Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football about how you get Pogba and Bruno Fernandes in the team and where does Van de Beek play - but there are too many of them and now there's a lack of balance,” Neville added.

“He took Mason Greenwood off - who I thought should probably have stayed on because of that balance - but that exacerbated it.

"They are in a desperate position - nine points off the top - and Ole couldn't really afford a bad start in the league. I don't think anyone expected him to get a league title this season but to fall behind so much, so early just puts pressure on. Only the Champions League performances have provided some sunshine.”