Neville picks one thing Ten Hag got 'wrong' as Man Utd 'missed a great player' against Newcastle

Gary Neville thinks Erik ten Hag got one thing 'wrong' as Man Utd drew 0-0 with Newcastle United at Old Trafford at the weekend.

The Red Devils have struggled to find consistency at the start of the campaign as they have five wins, one draw and three losses in the Premier League.

Ten Hag's side have won four league games in a row, but that good form was undone when they were beaten 6-3 by Man City earlier this month.

Since then, Man Utd have beaten Everton and Omonia Nicosia by just one goal before drawing with Newcastle on Sunday.

United were far from their best against the Magpies as they only managed two shots on target in the goalless draw.

Christian Eriksen joined Man Utd in the summer on a free transfer and he has arguably been their best player this season.

However, the midfielder has rested in recent games. He made a 20-minute appearance against Omonia and he was dropped from the squad completely against Newcastle.

Neville believes Eriksen 'connects and glues' Man Utd together and is a 'great player' for the club.

"It didn't look like a good performance from Manchester United," he said on The Gary Neville podcast.

"Eriksen didn't perform in the roles I saw and they seemed to miss him.

"Fred, Casemiro and Fernandes, I think when they are doing well, apart from [Manchester] City, Eriksen has been a great player and when he's not playing you realize what a great player he is, it connects and sticks.

"He goes through the lines, he sees things, looks over his shoulder, scans, you know it is and it allows Fernandes and him - you don't come across Fernandes, you have two.< /p>

"I thought the balance wasn't good in midfield, I just felt like it wasn't quite the same fluidity that we saw with him in the team. I thought Newcastle was doing well."

Neville also thinks Newcastle should have been ahead at the interval.

"It wasn't great, there were signs it wasn't great in the Europa League," Neville added.

"I was impressed with their response to City's game at Goodison Park, I thought it was a very good response. But against the Cypriot team in midweek it wasn't great , scrappy but well done, they scored a late goal. Today wasn't very good.

"I watched the first half and thought about the set pieces especially at Newcastle, I think Joelinton hit the post with a header and then the bar.

"Newcastle really deserved something from that first half, being up front, I didn't see the whole second half because I was doing that bit on the pitch."

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