Former Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson insists it will be "absolutely impossible" for Manchester United to compete with Liverpool and Manchester City next season, even with a new manager in place.
United, who saw their top-four hopes dealt a costly blow on Sunday afternoon, losing 4-1 to cross-city rivals Manchester City, are hoping to appoint their new permanent boss within the coming months. Paris Saint-Germain chief Mauricio Pochettino and Ajax boss Erik ten Hag have been sounded out as the frontrunners, but no final decision has yet been made.
For whoever does land themselves the job, it promises to be a massive challenge. United are in desperate need of a reset, but even then the task will remain huge.
READ MORE: Jadon Sancho has responded to Ralf Rangnick's Manchester United challenge
Big changes need to be made to the squad and everyone within the club needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet. But even though the appointment of a new manager is set to give United the lift they need, Merson believes it will be "impossible" for them to even think about competing at the top end of the Premier League table next term.
"Manchester United are a million miles off," Merson said, speaking to Sky Sports. "The club are the same on the pitch as they are off it – a bit of a shambles.
"An interim manager is in place, and then they are going to look for someone permanent in the summer, which will give whoever they appoint a month or two to get the team ready to try and challenge Manchester City and Liverpool again. It's impossible, absolutely impossible."
Merson also laid into United's performance in the derby against City. He admitted that he was not remotely surprised by the scoreline, and has likened United to playing like a team from the Conference [National League] against their neighbours.
Merson added: "People are getting a bit carried away with how much of a shock it [Man City’s 4-1 win] was, I'd have been shocked if Manchester City hadn't won by three goals. But there are ways to lose football matches, and at 3-1 Manchester United literally gave up.
"You might as well have just stopped the game there and then and let everyone go home. I'm not shocked. We've seen it before for United, they were just as bad in October at Old Trafford [in the reverse fixture], City just didn't score as many goals that day.
"No disrespect, but it looked as though a team from the Conference were playing Manchester City. The possession stats from the final 15 minutes, 92 per cent to City and eight per cent to United, were generous – I don't remember United having that much of the ball."
Sign up to our United newsletter so you never miss an update from Old Trafford this season.
Catch up on all the latest United headlines in our United section.
