Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has weighed in on the struggles at Old Trafford, urging manager Ruben Amorim to learn a lesson from Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca. Speaking after Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest, Neville highlighted the importance of consistency in team selection—a hallmark of Maresca’s Chelsea approach this season.

Manchester United’s back-to-back losses under Amorim, including their first home defeat to Nottingham Forest in 30 years, have raised concerns. After a mix-up in defense and a lack of stability, Neville believes Amorim’s constant tinkering is causing more harm than good.

“When you keep changing players, when you keep changing your back three, you take five players off, you’re basically saying to all of them effectively, because they’ve obviously been left out of the start of the game, is that you don’t trust them,” Neville said on NBC Sports.

Neville contrasted this with Maresca’s leadership at Chelsea, praising how the Blues’ boss has maintained a clear plan, deploying separate starting line-ups for Premier League and European campaigns.

“Maresca is doing it now at Chelsea,” Neville emphasized. “He’s playing an eleven on a Sunday or a Saturday and then he’s playing a different eleven in midweek. He’s sending some messages to the players that there’s stability here, this is what we’re going to do, this is how we’re going to play, this is an idea I believe in.”

Neville criticized the lack of consistency in Amorim’s line-ups, particularly in defense and midfield, pointing out how this disrupts any chance of stability. He added:

“Ten Hag kept doing that a few weeks ago, he kept changing the back players, changing the midfield, all of a sudden you’ve got a completely different system, a completely different set of players on the pitch at the end of the game and you never get stability or consistency.”

For Chelsea fans, this is a glowing endorsement of Maresca’s early tenure at Stamford Bridge. After years of unpredictability, Maresca’s ability to stick to a plan is helping the Blues build a foundation for success. Neville’s comments underscore how Chelsea’s approach offers a blueprint for clubs like Manchester United to follow.

Neville also suggested that Amorim needs to trust his best eleven more often instead of overreacting to setbacks. He continued:

“I think I said this with Ten Hag for about 12 months – pick an eleven that you think are the best. I’m not saying don’t make a substitution but almost give that eleven the faith and trust.”

The former United defender added that consistent line-ups allow players to develop familiarity and rhythm, something Chelsea fans are beginning to see under Maresca.

“When you change players all the time you’re almost saying to everybody you’re just juggling plates all the time, there’s no consistency or familiarity that can build with players. You need to build patterns together, you need to build an idea of what you’re doing together and they can never do that if you’re changing players in all areas of the pitch.”

Chelsea fans will be encouraged to see how their manager is being hailed as a standard-setter, even by a staunch United supporter like Neville. This is yet another sign that the Blues are on the right path under Maresca’s leadership. Stability breeds success, and Neville’s praise highlights how Chelsea’s approach could set the tone for others to emulate.