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Manchester United will not make the top five in the Premier League this season, says Gary Neville, although he praised Scott McTominay after his match-winning goals.<\/p>\n
Two late goals in the 93rd and 97th minutes from the Scotland international saw Man Utd to a 2-1 victory against Brentford on Saturday \u2013 their fourth Premier League success of the season.<\/p>\n
But despite the win,\u00a0Sky Sports\u00a0<\/em>pundit Neville says United will finish no higher than sixth, and believes Chelsea are closer to securing a top-five spot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Manchester United will finish in the top five this season\u2026 but they proved me wrong last season after having a very poor start,\u201d he said on the latest\u00a0Gary Neville Podcast.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cChelsea have got a lot of talented young players. The question mark will be centre-forward and experience if something happens to Thiago Silva.<\/p>\n \u201cChelsea are not far away if they get a centre-forward and centre-half. Even though they\u2019ve spent \u00a31bn they still need two players.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt sorry for Brentford because I like them a lot. But it was huge. Huge in the sense of it had been such a depressing start to the season and by no stretch of the imagination does beating Brentford at home with two goals in the 93rd and 97th minutes mean that everything is ok. Far from it. It\u2019s a mess.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re way off it and I\u2019m surprised because seven or eight weeks ago I had them third again.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goalkeeper hasn\u2019t settled in quickly. That\u2019s a problem. If your goalkeeper isn\u2019t settled in and there\u2019s a bit on instability around that, it does create a big problem. I\u2019ve had it at United.<\/p>\n \u201cChelsea are probably near to it [the top five] if they can just go on a run because they have got some really talented young players. Their age is a lot better than the Manchester United squad.\u201d<\/p>\n McTominay came on as an 87th-minute substitute on Saturday, before firing home twice in quick succession. Having also come through the Man Utd academy, Neville defended the 26-year-old after criticism online.<\/p>\n \u201cI was happy for Scott McTominay,\u201d he added. \u201cThe stuff I\u2019ve seen on social media over the last few weeks, that\u2019s when it\u2019s the classic a club is falling apart when you start to have your fanbase and media people questioning the work ethic of a kid who has come through the academy.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, I\u2019m not having that. That\u2019s one kid who will run through a brick wall for the club. That\u2019s the weight on his shoulders and the pressure and feeling of completely not having the support in the club to be able to actually wear your legs down.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve talked about heavy legs in a young player, last season with Arsenal in a title run-in we saw it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen from Scott McTominay in the last few weeks is being outstanding for Scotland and then he comes back to play right of a diamond against Brighton and he looks like his legs have gone.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden you see clips on social media of him not running back. I wouldn\u2019t look at that as anything other than pressure and carrying the world on his shoulders from being a Manchester United kid since the age of five.<\/p>\n \u201cSaturday was a big moment for him and I was happy for a few of the payers that came back in because they\u2019ve been battered and that\u2019s what happens when you\u2019ve got a club that\u2019s failing. You end up not knowing who\u2019s the good guys and bad guys. You end up calling [out] the ones that have been there a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got some good lads who have come in and bought into the club. They\u2019ve got some good lads who have come through the ranks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big question mark at the moment is the stability that runs right through the club and it\u2019s not there.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n