Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has issued a harrowing assessment of the club's current position as head Ruben Amorim finds himself with a 'mediocre' squad.

Bournemouth were the latest club to leave Old Trafford with all three points after their 3-0 win on Sunday. Andoni Iraola's side repeated the scoreline from their triumph last season as Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo were on target to fire the Cherries into the European positions.

Defeat meant that United went into Christmas in the bottom half of the Premier League for the first time ever following successive home defeats. The new Portuguese head coach has failed to heed the downturn since succeeding Erik ten Hag and despite facing the prospect of a dismal time ahead, Neville has claimed that Sunday's sobering defeat is a "massive positive".

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"I think it's a massive positive that Ruben Amorim is seeing what he's got. In the past, there have been times where you can be kidded into thinking you have got a better group of players, because of decent results and moving up the league," he said on his podcast. "But they are a mile away in every single way.

"Playing the way Amorim wants to play, with the 3-4-3, he's going to have to change it. He's given everyone a try by rotating the team and I do not think there will be many he's watched and thought, 'yes, I want you on the bus'.

"They are all very mediocre, and I don't know how it's happened - they are better than what they are showing, let's be clear. But it's a pattern," Neville added.

"He's got six months of a beauty parade if you like - which is more of an ugly parade. He's seeing what Manchester United fans have watched for 10 years, there has got to be a cultural overhaul.

"It is a real torrid time, there is not a lot to like about performance levels or the way they play. They are all lads trying their best, it's not a personal assault, but they are not good enough to play for Manchester United, because this club aims to be at the top.

"It's quite clear watching these players, they are not good enough'."