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Manchester United news: Phil Neville admits rivals Manchester City are ‘miles better’ right now

City picked up their third league title since United’s last triumph in 2013

Friday 31 May 2019 09:43 BST

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Phil Neville 'absolutely convinced' England will have a good Women's World Cup

Phil Neville has admitted Manchester City are "miles better" than Manchester United and that it could take them "a long time" to close the gap.

The former United utility man, currently manager of the England team preparing for the Women's World Cup, is a member of the Class of '92 which took the club to the pinnacle of domestic and European football under Sir Alex Ferguson.

However, he has seen the Red Devils slip off the pace and while he believes former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his staff can halt the decline, he is concerned the club has abandoned its philosophy in recent seasons.

Speaking to The Offside Rule Exclusives, Neville said: "Over the last five years, you've seen a team that's gone away from the vision and philosophy of what the club is all about.

"When you look at City, Liverpool and Tottenham, their club's foundations are really strong - and you'd say United's are from a financial point of view. But stability on the field?

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

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1/12Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Stay or go? Transfer verdict 2019

Jack Pitt-Brook runs down the biggest transfer sagas awaiting us this summer and whether they will actually happen or not

AFP/Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

David De Gea

This has been the worst season in years for the best goalkeeper in the world. He struggled at the World Cup then his form declined over the end of a difficult season. Now he wants a pay-rise to get parity with Alexis Sanchez. United have not offered him that, but De Gea knows that PSG would give him the money that he wants. Juventus are interested too. He has one year left and so if United cannot make him an acceptable offer then his long association with the club could be about to end. Verdict: 50/50

REUTERS

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Wilfried Zaha

Always linked with a move to a top club, and this summer Zaha is keen to make that big step again. But having been rewarded with new long-term contracts from Crystal Palace in the past to ward off interest, his club have the upper hand over his future. So while there are plenty of clubs - like Arsenal - who might like Zaha if he was available for £40m, there is less appetite to pay the £80m it would cost to get him out of Selhurst Park. And with four years left on his deal there, Zaha is unlikely to get the move that he wants. Verdict: stay

Action Images via Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Mesut Ozil

One of the great unanswered questions of the Unai Emery era has been the role of Mesut Ozil. Arsenal’s best paid and most famous player has been pushed out to the fringes this season, with Emery only appreciating in games where he will not have to do too much physical work. Over the season he started just 20 of Arsenal’s 38 league games. The problem is the ludicrous contract he was given in January 2018, a decision that Arsene Wenger soon came to regret and that has hamstrung Emery too. It means there are no takers for him, and he has no interest to leave. Verdict: stay

Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Ilkay Gundogan

Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City finished the season in the best form of his time at the club, instrumental in City’s 14-game winning streak that secured them the title. But his future is not clear. He only has one year left on his contract and has dragged his heels on signing a new one, knowing that at 28 years old this could be the last big contract of his career. Guardiola said at Wembley on Saturday night that if he does not sign then he will be sold, with Barcelona interested in signing him. There will need to be a breakthrough in negotiations to keep him at the club. Verdict: 50/50

Getty Images

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Alexis Sanchez

Like Pogba, a man United were delighted to sign but who has not quite delivered on that promise during his time at Old Trafford. Like Ozil, a player who has proven difficult to move because of the contract he negotiated 18 months ago. Sanchez earns more than £500,000 per week and not many other clubs want to pay that. Only now from Inter Milan is there serious interest, with talks now open on a move, with Untied keen to write off a badly-judged investment. Verdict: go

Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

James Maddison

It was only Maddison’s first season in the Premier League but he created more chances than anyone, finishing up with over 100, split evenly between set pieces and open play. He has played with the same confidence and ability he showed all the way through his young career so far, at Coventry City, Aberdeen and Norwich City. The only question is what next. Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs have been following Maddison his whole career but he has always put football first. And while that interest is still there, he is not expected to leave Leicester yet. Especially given the recent arrival of Brendan Rodgers. Verdict: stay

Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Christian Eriksen

For most of this year the presumption at Spurs was that this would be Christian Eriksen’s last season. Because he had one year left on his deal and was not signing a new one. Real Madrid would be his destination and Spurs were already lining up replacements. But there have been plenty of changes at Madrid recently, with Zinedine Zidane coming in and changing their transfer plans. Now the transfer is less certain and there are is even talk of fresh transfer negotiations. His departure is not inevitable yet. Verdict: 50/50

REUTERS

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Harry Maguire

With Vincent Kompany off to Anderlecht, and Nicolas Otamendi likely to leave too, Manchester City want a new centre-back. According to the Mail, they have identified Leicester’s Harry Maguire. He knows the league and would also help them with their home-grown quota for their Champions League squad. But as a 26-year-old England international at an established Premier League side, he is not going to be cheap. Verdict: go

Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Jadon Sancho

Manchester United made Sancho their top transfer target for this summer and were willing to pay £100million to get the teenager out of Borussia Dortmund. But that move will now not be happening, Sancho and his advisers having decided that Old Trafford would not be the right environment for his development. While a move is still theoretically possible - if PSG or Real Madrid pay the asking price - it is far more likely that the 19-year-old Sancho will stay at Dortmund for another season of development now. Verdict: stay

AP

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Toby Alderweireld

It speaks volumes to Mauricio Pochettino’s motivational powers that he has got such a good season out of Alderweireld when it looked last summer as if player and club were set to part ways. Alderweireld wanted a move to Manchester United last summer but there was never an agreement on price so he had to stay. Spurs have taken the option in his contract, which means he will be available this summer to any team who pays £25million for him. This will surely be the point when his four-year spell at the club ends, with one of the richer teams likely to see him as a perfect short-term defensive solution. Verdict: go

Getty Images

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Paul Pogba

When Zinedine Zidane return to the Real Madrid’s manager’s job he made Paul Pogba a priority and now it depends on how much Madrid want to back him. Pogba himself is interested in a move to Madrid, and has been for years. And while Pogba’s form did improve after Jose Mourinho’s departure at Christmas, there is also a view at Old Trafford that they would be better off without a player who is so inconsistent, and who some view as a negative dressing room influence. United would still need to recoup most of the £89m fee for him to sell, however. Verdict: 50/50

AFP/Getty Images

"If you look at those teams [City, Liverpool, Spurs], they have a system and a style of play and a tried and trusted method, whereas United seem to be going left and right from manager to manager.

"They need to get back to what United do best, which is playing a certain brand of football which hasn't just been synonymous with Sir Alex Ferguson, it's from the year dot, Sir Matt [Busby], Ron Atkinson...

"You hope with Ole, Mick Phelan, Michael Carrick and Nicky Butt [in the Academy] that United will start getting back to the foundations.

"I think it will take a long time - it's not a quick fix - but hopefully with those guys in charge and the financial muscle United have still got, they can get back challenging soon because it's difficult watching Man City win everything.

"It's difficult because you think they're miles better than United at this moment in time."

It is 20 years since United could consider themselves the best both at home and on the continent after they landed an unprecedented Treble, adding the 1999 Champions League title to their Premier League and FA Cup successes with a memorable fightback victory over Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

For Neville, whose brother Gary was a key member of the team, the end of that all-conquering campaign represents the time of his life to date.

He said: "It was the best 10 days of my life. I don't like looking back on things, but if I could rewind my life back to 10 days, it would be them.

"We went out to Barcelona on Concorde, which was a special treat for us, and I was on the bench. With two minutes to go, they were celebrating next to us, the cup was draped in Bayern ribbons.

Manchester City won the Premier League title again this year (PA)

"Then we scored those two goals, and the celebrations with the family and the open top bus tour around Manchester was probably the best moment of my life.

"Seeing my brother get emotional for the first time in my life, emotional about anything, was one of those moments that will stick with me forever."

Neville's current focus is on bringing the Women's World Cup back from France this summer, and he is not shying away from that ambition.

He said: "At the start, I said to the girls, 'What do we want?' and they said, 'Boss, we want to win a World Cup'. I said, 'We're going to tell the world that we're going to win a World Cup, we're going to lift expectations.

"The dream was to be top three in the world. Now we're in the top three in the world, let's not back off and get worried."

Listen to Phil's full interview with The Offside Side Rule Exclusives on Audioboom

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