Manchester United: Ruben Amorim's successor must play the United way, says Gary Neville

Man Utd must appoint an experienced manager who fits the club’s DNA, says Gary Neville, insisting “experimentation must stop”.

The Sky Sports pundit has urged the hierarchy at his former club to return to United’s core values as they look for a successor to Ruben Amorim, who was sacked on Monday.

The Portuguese leaves with a miserable record after implementing his back-three system throughout almost his entire tenure.

Neville believes a failure at Man Utd since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 is that the club has looked to different managers with different philosophies rather than sticking to their traditional principles.

“Louis van Gaal had his own philosophy. Jose Mourinho plays a certain style of football. So does David Moyes. Erik ten Hag, again, a very different style of football – different to what Man Utd would normally play,” Neville said Sky Sports news.

“Ruben Amorim, a very different style of football than Man Utd would normally expect.

“The experiments must stop.

“There is a very good video online [where United legend] Bobby Charlton talks about what Man Utd is as a football club. Adventurous, exciting football, playing young players, entertaining the crowd. Man Utd must take risks and be brave to play attacking football.

“Man Utd have to appoint a manager who fits their club’s DNA. Ajax will never change for anyone, Barcelona will never change for anyone. I don’t think Man Utd will have to change for anyone.”

“You can’t say these managers aren’t good coaches, but they’ve all come in with different ideas, different playing styles, different philosophies and none of them really suit the Man Utd way.

“The club needs to find a manager now who has experience, who is willing to play fast, entertaining, attacking, aggressive football.”

Neville remains optimistic that United’s group of players can still achieve Champions League qualification this season through the Premier League and expects interim boss Darren Fletcher to switch to a back four set-up immediately.

However, he warned that it is difficult to predict how United’s season will go if Fletcher is required to take the team until the end of the campaign before a permanent appointment is made in the summer.

“Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjær on a short-term contract and it went really well. It was a big boost for the club. Then they appointed Ralf Rangnick on a short-term contract and it was an absolute disaster, so we’ve experienced both,” he said.

Carragher: European qualification still realistic for Man Utd

Despite Man Utd’s mixed fortunes with previous interim managers, Neville’s colleague was Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes the team are well placed in sixth place and that a Premier League-quality manager should be able to steer them to European qualification.

Asked if the call to get rid of Amorim could now backfire for United, Carragher said Sky Sports News: “Actually, I don’t think it’s that big of a risk.

“I think a competent manager, a Premier League manager, should be able to get Manchester United very close to the Champions League positions and really compete for it.

“Now people will say, well, that’s where Manchester United are at the moment and that tells you the story of the Premier League this season.

“I don’t think at any time under Amorim Manchester United have convinced themselves that things really looked good and they are still in a healthy position in terms of a league position.

“It can change very quickly because the league is so close, but there is enough talent in that squad to have a real push, destined for European positions.

“When you look at how poor Liverpool have been, how poor Chelsea have been, there could be a real opportunity for them to get into the Champions League.

“I don’t think it will happen, but I think Manchester United should have more than enough to get a European position.”