CAPE TOWN – Paul Ince doesn’t think Manchester United will be able to compete against Manchester City and Liverpool for the title next season.
The former midfielder, who played for both Manchester United and Liverpool in his career, was disagreeing with Gary Neville, who claimed the Old Trafford club were making good progress and would soon challenge last season’s top two club.
“If we hadn’t had this virus, I think Manchester United could’ve been two or three years away,” Neville said on Sky Sports during the week.
However, Ince said United were kidding themselves if they believed they could catch City and Liverpool in that time.
“It will take a long time to catch up and if anyone at Old Trafford thinks it can be done in a couple of years wit some big money signings, they are kidding themselves,” Ince was quoted by Planet Football.
“There has been a lot of damage caused by the instability at the club over the last six years and at the same time, Liverpool have had stability, especially since [Jurgen] Klopp came in,” said the former England international.
“Liverpool have had a plan, they stuck to it even when things didn’t go great for Klopp in his first year and now they are getting the rewards.
“At United, managers have come and gone, they’ve had their own ideas on players, spent fortunes on terrible signings. Because of that they found themselves 30 points behind Liverpool at the halfway point of the season, which is embarrassing for a club of United’s stature.”