Gary Neville says Manchester United sorely missed Christian Eriksen in Sunday’s stalemate with Newcastle, though he also questioned the balance of the home side's midfield.
Eriksen sat out the clash due to illness and the hosts consequently lacked creativity in the centre of the park. United struggled to find frequent openings against the Magpies, but when chances did come they were squandered.
This meant United endured a frustrating afternoon and they remain fifth but are now three points off Chelsea in fourth. Neville said United's performance “wasn’t great” and that they rued the absence of Eriksen in midfield.
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“It wasn’t great, there were signs of it in the Europa League that it wasn’t great,” he said on his podcast. “I was impressed with their response to the [Manchester] City game at Goodison Park [where United beat Everton 2-1], I thought it was a really good response.
“But against the Cypriot team in midweek, it wasn’t great. Scrappy, but well done, they got a goal late on. Today wasn’t very good.
“Fred, Casemiro and [Bruno] Fernandes, I think when they’ve been doing well, apart from City, Eriksen has been a big player and when he doesn’t play you realise how big of a player he is, he connects and glues. He passes through the lines, he sees things, looks over his shoulder, scanning, you know that’s the case."
Neville said that the midfield set-up against Newcastle left much to be desired, suggesting United were lacking in that area throughout the contest. “I thought the balance was wrong in the midfield,” he added.
“It just felt it wasn’t quite the same fluidity we’ve seen with him [Eriksen] in the team. Newcastle, I thought, were doing well.”
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