On August 30, local time, during a Sky Sports podcast, Neville praised Man United star Bruno Fernandes, calling him Man United's most successful signing since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure.

The Man United vs. Ipswich match had plenty of talking points for both sides.

Neville: Yes, I liked this game from the first minute. I just felt there were a few things about Ipswich that surprised me a little bit. One of them is that they might have lacked a bit of experience. I thought that a team newly promoted from the Championship, after a positive performance last week, coming to Old Trafford to face Man United, might have been a bit more pragmatic.

I expected Man United to find their rhythm quickly from the start of the game, while Ipswich might have adopted a more conservative approach, such as playing in a 4-5-1 formation, and been less bold when building up from the back. In fact, however, they started the game very well, both in and out of possession. Their defensive line was very high, and I thought they performed very well. Of course, I also think Man United showed plenty of attacking vitality. They looked very threatening once they built through midfield. So, both teams created a lot of problems in attack. If you look only at the two or three chances created in the first half, Ipswich even had a slight advantage.

Leif Davis had a chance that could have given his team a 2-0 lead, right? Enciso also had another chance to break through the middle, which impressed me a lot. He powered through between Luke Shaw and Mainoo with great strength and speed. I know Enciso has good explosiveness, but I used to think he might be quick over short sprints and then get caught if he ran a longer distance of about fifty meters. That wasn’t the case today, though, and I think he played a very good game.

I think it was a very exciting first half. Ipswich showed their full capabilities. The goal they scored shortly before half-time—coming just a few minutes before the whistle—was a huge blow for them, especially given Nunez's mistake. That error clearly boosted Man United's morale, allowing them to go into the dressing room level.

A little more about Enciso. I'd say he's not a tractor, right? He's more like a Porsche.

Neville: That's right, he's really excellent. I think the way he runs, the positions he chooses to appear in, caused a lot of trouble for Tielemans, Mainoo, Martinez, and Maguire. Man United didn't leave huge gaps, that's not what I mean. He often operates in tight spaces. But on the counter-attack, he always finds a position to receive the ball, always in dangerous areas. His performance is very flexible, he constantly cuts in, gets rid of defenders, and is very creative. He was the star player on the field today. I remember around the 52nd or 53rd minute, I said that he might be the best player on the field.

Of course, we also saw the performance of Bruno Fernandes. I also mentioned at the time that he could get the ball into very good areas. But Enciso did pose a huge threat.

It was clear that Man United kept increasing the intensity and pressing Ipswich, making it difficult for their defenders to keep going.

Later, the manager switched to a five-man defense, but by that time, the score was probably 3-1, or even 4-1. So, perhaps in future away games, while maintaining some aggression at the start, they need to consider adjusting their formation earlier—just as they did by switching to a five-man defense at certain stages today—to truly alleviate Man United’s sustained pressure. Of course, Man United played very well in the second half. But you’re right: Enciso’s performance was beautiful.

If you divide the game into two parts, the best player in the first half was Enciso, while the best player in the second half was Bruno Fernandes. They are both number 10s.

Of course, Bruno Fernandes received an honor this week. As you said, no honor is more valuable than recognition from one’s peers. He proved today that he deserved this award, didn’t he?

Neville: Yes, I think this award is completely uncontroversial. It’s very difficult to get your opponents to vote for you. If you’re selected for the PFA Team of the Year and win the PFA Player of the Year award, it means you’ve really impressed a lot of players in the league.

You work hard, you contribute, you perform. If you're an attacking player, you have to put up excellent numbers. If you're a defensive player, you have to be almost unbeatable. So, for Bruno, Man United did end that season very strongly. But I still say he is Man United's most successful signing since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure, bar none.

He has the courage, the guts, and the belief needed to play for Man United. His statistics—assists and goals—are excellent. His desire to win, his positive attitude, and his constant willingness to influence and change the game are outstanding. He is willing to try to deliver killer passes, to shoot, to do the most difficult things. He is a top player. Truly. Without him, Man United would have very serious problems. But they have him. And around him, there are Rashford, Mbeumo, Cunha, Amad, Sesko, Dorgu, Mount, I'll include Mount too.

They have a group of very good attacking players who can score plenty of goals and create a lot of threats because they are so direct. You wouldn't want to face any of them. I wouldn't want Amad running at me, I wouldn't want Rashford running at me, I wouldn't want Cunha running at me, I wouldn't want Mbeumo running at me, and I certainly wouldn't want Bruno feeding them the ball. So, there are many positives to Man United's attack right now. That is the biggest takeaway today.

5 goals. I was surprised after the Hull City game last week. Of course, not because they conceded two goals. What really disappointed me was that they didn't score, because they really have a big attacking threat now.

I think there is a lot to look forward to in Man United's attack. However, the midfield still needs to develop and prove itself. We do not yet know which two players will be the regular starters, but the roles of the two central midfielders in this team are actually very clear. Normally, with two Man United midfielders, you might hope that one of them could contribute plenty of assists or deliver beautiful long passes and switches of play. In reality, though, what they need most right now is to be reliable in possession: not conservative, but stable.

This way, they can deliver the ball to Bruno, the forwards, or the full-backs on the wings. Their most important task is to always protect the four defenders behind them. This is key.

That is also why they signed Baleba: he is the physically strongest and most defensively capable player among these midfielders. Man United need this type of midfielder.

He is very important now. When you get into the real rhythm of the game, for example, Ipswich caused Man United a lot of trouble in the first half today, and you can already see that Man United's defense does have the potential to be breached. We have known this for a long time because these are still the same defenders from last season, or even the season before. They conceded 50 goals last season, so things will not automatically change unless their overall performance improves. Of course, I hope they can do that.

At the same time, the central midfield duo must provide more protection. This has to happen; otherwise, they will concede a lot of goals. They have already conceded 4 goals in their first two games. In the first half today, Ipswich created many chances and could easily have scored two or three. To be fair, Ipswich is unlikely to be a top-half team in the league, so that is the real concern.

I also mentioned before the game in the studio that the main issues everyone is discussing are actually the same. If Carrick can bring in one, or even two, defenders in the next 48 hours, I think that would be very crucial.

This is not simply a call to: "Buy players! Keep buying players! Spend money quickly!" That is not what it means. Man United's previous plan was to prioritize rebuilding the attack last season and focus on improving the midfield this season. From the current situation, it seems they originally intended to wait another year before starting to rebuild the defense.

The question now is whether suitable defensive candidates are available in the market. If so, could Man United consider investing earlier and completing the signings in this transfer window? That way, they would face much less pressure to invest in the defence next season.

If they can bring in a center-back and a full-back, the team’s overall situation will change significantly.

At the end of the game, after Dalot and Luke Shaw were substituted, Man United's defensive setup was clearly not ideal.

So my point is that, if conditions allow, Man United should try to sign one or two players. Of course, I'm not clear about the specific situation in the market right now.

For example, Lewis Hall was mentioned, but I don’t think Newcastle would let him go easily. I don’t even want to upset Newcastle fans, because simply mentioning his name makes it sound like I think he might join Man United.

But there is no doubt he is a very good left-back.

In addition, Lewis Skelly's name has come up again. He can play at left-back and also has the ability to operate in midfield, making this an option worth watching.

Of course, Lisandro Martinez's return can bring stability in possession for Man United. In today's game, you saw some of his excellent passes, and his statistical performance was also very good.

But Man United's biggest problem right now is still this: how exactly do they reduce the number of goals they concede? In the first two games of the new season, they have already conceded 4 goals. This is the problem Carrick most needs to solve.

Of course, this problem can be improved by making the team more compact overall and by adjusting the positioning and structure of the attacking players. But you don’t really want to do that, because one of the key reasons to support Carrick’s continued coaching, besides winning, is that he can make fans enjoy the game. And today, he did exactly that.

Those fans leaving the stadium – even though they were drenched in rain, maybe the rain has stopped now – saw a 5-2 victory and many scoring opportunities as they left the stadium.

Man United's second-half performance was excellent, Bruno Fernandes completed a hat-trick, and the team produced many wonderful runs, shots, and crosses, so the fans were very happy. You can't easily give up the joy this kind of game brings. However, Man United must continue to improve their performance against Everton next. They also need to show stronger competitiveness against Man City in two weeks.

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