Gary Neville believes Manchester United's squad are playing for their futures now Sir Jim Ratcliffe has all-but-completed his acquisition of the club. Since the INEOS founder announced on Christmas Eve he was going to purchase a 25 per cent stake in United and gain control of the football project, the Reds have lost just once in all competitions. Erik ten Hag's side extended their unbeaten run to seven matches on Sunday afternoon as they beat Luton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road.
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Rasmus Hojlund's early brace set the tone for the 90 minutes but the Reds were pegged back in the 14th minute by Carlton Morris' header. This setback was only temporary though and United remained resilient to seal an important three points in the race for Champions League qualification.
Analysing the result on Sky Sports' Super Sunday, Neville identified the pressure which is currently on this United team. He explained: "I think it might be a little bit of a coincidence that their fortunes begin to turn around as soon as Jim Ratcliffe actually comes in but you look back to their win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day and that was his ‘first game’ as it was given he was announced on Christmas Eve. "He’s gone in there and said: ‘I’m watching every single one of you lot because you’re all playing for your futures.' The more I think about it, the Glazers have just shown blind loyalty to people who have been really good to them over a long period of time.
"Ed Woodward, he was at the club for ten-12 years before he became CEO working on the commercial side and they believed everything he said. I said it about ten years ago but it was like they were playing Football Manager, just going around and picking out the best players in the world and they basically played Football Manager for ten years with the club without having any serious people in there. It’s unbelievable.
Form of his life! Hojlund's brace gets Man United a vital 2-1 win against Luton
Final comments
"The mood has changed. What the fans wanted, what everyone connected with Manchester United have called for was just some interference into the complete and utter tosh we’ve seen at that club for the last ten years and actually what’s happened is the boardroom has been completely disrupted and there’s a new energy in there."
