Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has made a clear-cut assessment on Ruben Amorim and Manchester United after the 2025 Europa League final against Tottenham.
Manchester United met Tottenham in the final of the Europa League and the Red Devils fell short of capturing the UEFA trophy earlier this month.
Tottenham inflicted a 1-0 defeat on United at the San Mames Stadium and Spurs secured their entry back to the Champions League for the 2025-26 campaign.
Brennan Johnson broke the deadlock and found the eventual winner for Tottenham in the 1-0 win over United in the Europa League in Spain.
United’s last hope of ensuring their place in Europe for next season relied on lifting the Europa League trophy, with the Red Devils finishing the campaign in 15th place.
Ruben Amorim could also have signed off a turbulent 2024-25 campaign by lifting his first piece of major silverware as United manager after his arrival in 2024.
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Photo by Annice Lyn/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Annice Lyn/Manchester United via Getty Images
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Gary Neville makes his feelings clear on Man Utd players under Ruben Amorim after the Europa League final defeat vs Tottenham
The Red Devils ended their woeful 2024-25 campaign at Old Trafford last Sunday after Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Ruben Amorim’s men moved to 15th place in the Premier League table after United’s result against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on the final day of the league campaign.
Gary Neville spoke about United’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham and admitted that he felt that the outcome in Bilbao was “quite expected.”
“I was in a pub watching it. I didn’t react at the end of the game,” he told Goal.
“It sort of, to be fair, was something that felt quite expected. The club has made a lot of poor decisions over the last 10 years, and I think Wednesday night, it all came home to roost on and off the pitch.”
Neville also argued that he is not convinced that United players ‘don’t care’ about the fact that the Red Devils fell short of lifting the Europa League trophy.
The 50-year-old Sky Sports pundit instead suggested that it is “too much” for anyone to deal with at the Premier League club at the moment.
“The financial stresses that this will bring, but also the performance in a big game like that,” Neville continued.
“I don’t believe that football players, wake up in the morning and don’t care. I believe they genuinely do care, and I believe those Manchester United players do care.
“But the reality of it is, it’s too much for them, and it’s too much for everybody at the club at this moment in time. And there’s no doubt that there is going to need to be changes there.”
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Gary Neville’s verdict on Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford and what needs to happen for the Premier League club
Amorim’s men have started their post-season tour this week and United lost 1-0 to ASEAN All-Stars in a friendly at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday.
Neville believes that the 40-year-old United manager has “quite a lot of work” ahead of him at Old Trafford, including both “changing and adapting” his first-team squad.
“There’s obviously a manager who’s relatively new who’s going to need to do a lot of… he’s going to need to do quite a lot,” he explained.
“He’s gonna need to do quite a lot of work in changing and adapting that squad to get what he wants.
“And he’s collected a group of players who have had a difficult time before he came, even more difficult time since he arrived.”
United will now face the Hong Kong national team at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday afternoon, with kick-off scheduled for 1pm UK time.