Pundit Danny Murphy has explained why he cannot see Manchester United finishing in the top four this season, while some players must do “more”.
Man Utd have hit their stride in recent weeks as the pressure on head coach Ruben Amorim has eased after he looked on the brink of the sack at the start of this campaign.
For the first time in Amorim‘s tenure, Man Utd won back-to-back Premier League games against Sunderland and Liverpool before following that up with a 4-2 victory against Brighton.
Summer signings Senne Lammens, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko have made a positive impact in recent matches as the optimism at Man Utd has risen, with the Premier League giants sitting sixth in the table after nine matches.
Despite this, former Liverpool star Murphy cannot see Man Utd finishing in the top four this season as they are “heavily reliant” on certain players.
“I do think there has been some progression in terms of the way they set up,” Murphy told talkSPORT.
“The system is the same, but they have done it a bit differently this season. They’ve been harder to beat, they’ve made more chances because they have better front players and they look a bit more organised.
“His problem has been, in certain games, I think is playing the playing personnel in the wrong roles in that system which is a bit different.
“But if they were to go and win, I’d say they’d have a great bit of momentum, good run, feel-good factor, and the pressure drops.
“Then they have a realistic chance of top six, top seven, maybe even top four if they have an amazing run, but I don’t think so because they are heavily reliant on a couple of the front boys.”
Murphy has also argued that Man Utd’s wing-backs need to do “more”, with the pundit pointing the finger at Amad Diallo, Patrick Dorgu and Diogo Dalot, who have had the most minutes on the flanks this season.
“I still think they could get a bit more from their wing-backs,” Murphy added.
“When I think of teams who have played that system and been really successful, wing-backs have done really well.
“When Chelsea won the league playing that 3-4-3, they had Alonso and Moses both chipping in with goals and assists regularly.
“I like Dalot, he’s a talent, but is he really a wing-back? He’s a right-footer playing at left wing-back.”
When asked how they could do more, Murphy continued: “Goals and assists. If you’re playing wing-back, you are getting in great areas, you really are. I’m not talking double figures but they need to chip in [with goals and assists].”