Former Manchester United captain, Gary Neville, has warned that changing managers will not resolve the club’s persistent struggles, insisting that fundamental structural reforms are needed to restore its fortunes.

Neville made the remarks following the dismissal of head coach Michael Carrick, with former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino reportedly lined up as his replacement.

Carrick’s departure came less than six months after he signed a two-year contract, following a difficult spell in which Manchester United recorded their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, managing just one win in 10 matches and dropping into the relegation zone.

Speaking to NBC on Thursday, Neville said the club risked repeating a familiar pattern of appointing new managers, experiencing temporary improvements and eventually returning to poor performances.

He argued that the repeated changes in the technical department over the past 12 years had shown that managerial appointments alone could not address the club’s problems.

Neville cited former United managers, including Ruben Amorim, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes and Ralf Rangnick, as examples of coaches who had failed to deliver sustained success at the club.

According to him, weaknesses in the club’s recruitment and performance departments, alongside a lack of effective leadership, were among the major issues undermining its progress.

“If you’ve got a poor performance department, poor recruitment department, you’ve not got leadership that is strong right through the spine of the football club, you will fail,” he said.

The former England defender stressed that Manchester United needed a strong and coordinated leadership structure, extending from the ownership and boardroom to the coaching staff and players.

He also expressed concern that some individuals occupying senior positions at the club lacked the necessary experience to handle their responsibilities.

Neville maintained that without addressing these institutional weaknesses, the club could continue to experience the same difficulties regardless of who occupies the managerial position.