Gary Neville's Sharp Criticism of Amorim: Every Change is Always Strange

Gary Neville menilai mengganti Joshua Zirkzee adalah keanehan dalam hasil seri Mancheter United vs Wolves (Instagram/@manutd).

JAKARTA - Manchester United lost the opportunity to climb to fourth place in the 2025/2026 English League standings because they only got a draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, early morning WIB.

They became the first team to lose points against Wolves since the beginning of October 2025 after a string of 11 consecutive defeats. That is, it was the first point for Rob Edwards' children in 12 consecutive matches in the league.

No wonder, Manchester United's failure to beat the team of the league standings led to boos from the supporters.

Even club legend Gary Neville said that the blame for the performance was entirely on Ruben Amorim.

Gary Neville says Manchester United suffered a setback in the 1-1 draw against Wolves due to Ruben Amorim's decision to revert to a three-man defence.

"It was the worst thing that ever happened. They were not only booed when the final whistle blew. The fans waited in the stadium to continue to boo them," said Gary Neville as reported by Sky Sports.

Manchester United were sluggish from the start, but took the lead through a Joshua Zirkzee shot that hit the opponent before Wolves scored the equalizer they deserved just before the break through a header from Ladislav Krejci.

Neville was surprised Amorim did not stick with the four-man defence that brought victory over Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

The only change Amorim made was to bring Zirkzee off for youngster Jack Fletcher as he started the second half needing a winner.

"They even retreated. I'm not sure why they changed it. Wolves are probably a better team."

"This is not true. I've watched Manchester United enough over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what doesn't," Neville said when commenting on the game after the equalizer from Wolves.

Neville was not impressed with the performance of the Red Devils as the match progressed. Wolves even almost won their first victory this season. Fortunately, their golden opportunity was thwarted by two crucial saves from Senne Lammens.

The Sky Sports pundit felt Amorim's choice of formation was to blame for the dip in form and questioned his comments in a press conference when the Portuguese coach said he could not change the system because of media pressure.

"He doesn't need to say 'I didn't change it because of the media'. Basically, he's telling us that the media is in his head."

"The reason he had to change it was because the level of performance with the 3-4-3 formation was very bad and the results were terrible."

"When I look back (to the three defenders) after five minutes tonight, I think, no, Ruben, why did you do that?"

"The manager has to look at that and think he's wrong," Neville said.

Neville once again criticised Amorim's substitutions after he decided to replace Zirkzee at the break despite having five teenagers on the bench.

Amorim explained after the match that it was a tactical decision to pull Zirkzee off, not due to injury.

"They make Manchester United worse. Every substitution is strange. If Zirkzee is not injured and it's a tactical substitution, it's a very bad substitution."

"Zirkzee is not Eric Cantona, not at all, but he needs to be on the pitch for physical strength, presence, and experience."

"He's scored a goal. You can't pull him out. So, I hope he's injured. I hope he's injured for Ruben Amorim," Neville said of the change.