Gary Neville has described Manchester United as being "like a broth of 100 ingredients" and insisted Ralf Rangnick is not solely to blame for his former club's issues.
United have squandered half-time leads to draw 1-1 with Burnley and Southampton in their past two top-flight matches, seeing them drop to fifth.
It marks only the second time in their Premier League history that United have failed to win back-to-back games in which they have led at the midway point.
United are winless in three in all competitions, meanwhile, having also been pegged back at 1-1 by Middlesbrough before losing on penalties in the FA Cup fourth-round tie.
The Red Devils strengthened ahead of this campaign by bringing in Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, but Neville does not believe there is any real plan at Old Trafford.
"You put that many ingredients into a soup, you don't know which one in the end is making it taste bad," he told Sky Sports. "You lose your sanity over what's good and what's bad.
"I felt they were near last season [when they finished second] but now I feel they are as far away as they've ever been from winning the league.
"Maybe the right appointment in the summer and a little bit of a shuffle with someone who is calculated, ruthless and knows where the problem lies could change things again.
"Right now, I'm looking at a broth of 100 ingredients and don't know which of them I want to get rid of to make it taste better. It's a mess and United fans must take their medicine."
Rangnick, appointed as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's successor on an interim basis until the end of the campaign in November, has naturally shouldered much of the blame of late.
United have averaged fewer goals per game under the German than they have under any other manager in Premier League history (1.4 – 14 goals in 10 games).
Former United midfielder Paul Scholes claimed on the back of Saturday's draw with Southampton that Rangnick is nothing more than a sporting director.
But amid rumours that United's players are pushing the club to appoint Mauricio Pochettino, Neville is not sure if a new man in the dugout will have the desired effect.
"It now gets to a point where you don't feel it's down to the manager anymore," said Neville, who won 17 major honours across his near two decades in United's first team.
"Ole was getting a lot of criticism at the start of the season and loses his job and it's now being suggested that Rangnick isn't good enough because he's a sporting director and he's not a coach.
"There's a confidence issue but there's also an issue of excuse mentality and of looking after themselves and not looking at the bigger picture, which is creating a brilliant team and trying to get back up that league."
Rangnick was forced to defend himself after the draw with Southampton, pointing out that United are not getting the results that their performances deserve.
United had 12 shots against Southampton to go with 22 attempts at Burnley and 30 over 120 minutes of the FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough, yet they failed to win each.
Since Rangnick's first game in charge on December 5, United have scored 17 goals in all competitions, but their expected goals (xG) figure is 23.3.
That differential of -6.3 is the third-biggest among all teams in Europe's top-five leagues in that time, behind only Lyon (-8) and Rayo Vallecano (-7.4).
By contrast, Premier League leaders Manchester City have scored 38 goals in the same timeframe from an xG of 29.9 – a positive differential of 8.11.
While an inability to put chances away is proving an issue, Neville believes United's issues run much deeper.
"You can't put your finger on one thing when you watch United nowadays," he said. "Every day feels like a soap opera. You hear the players want Pochettino, then Ronaldo's going to leave.
"The last few weeks have been terrible in terms of off-the-pitch incidents. On the pitch, I saw [Southampton manager] Ralph Hasenhuttl's quote after the game, which I think is the biggest criticism you can have levelled at you as a sportsperson or an athlete – that you don't work hard enough.
"I look at them on the pitch and there's definitely a number of them who are lacking in confidence. There's also a few of them who are not putting a shift in. The hard yards.
"That I can't forgive because as a United fan all that you can ask is that they give their all on the pitch. It looks lethargic and they don't look like they have the quality to chase games. Something has got to change there very quickly."
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
Ten Hag bemoans late Burnley equaliser - 'It's so unnecessary'
Erik ten Hag was left frustrated as Manchester United "gave it away" against a spirited Burnley, who held them to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were on course to claim all three points when Antony pounced on Sander Berge's error to open the scoring in the 79th minute, as they looked to close the gap on fifth-place Tottenham to four points.
However, the hosts could not hold on as Andre Onana was penalised for a foul on Zeki Amdouni, who picked himself up to level from the penalty spot and salvage a point for the visitors three minutes from time.
Ten Hag was made to rue his side's wastefulness as they converted just one of their 27 shots on goal throughout the contest.
"We put ourselves in a winning position and, over long courses of the game, we dominated," he told the BBC. "We played some good football - creating loads of chances - and then to give it away in the end in the final minutes, it's so unnecessary.
"Every team gives up opportunities. But, when it is up to us, it is weird. We created loads of chances as well. We are one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in the league at this moment. We are creating loads of chances by playing good football.
"We lost control in the second part of the first half when we conceded some chances, but the rest of the game was ours. We were in a winning position, and we gave it away."
Meanwhile, Vincent Kompany saluted the character demonstrated by Burnley, who boosted their Premier League survival hopes by moving to within two points of safety with three games remaining.
"We are where we are in the league for a reason, so not everything can be perfect, but the mentality was perfect - the togetherness, the sacrifice for each other," the Clarets boss said.
"There is tremendous consistency in the club and the approach to each game, even in tough times. We've earned the right to believe and hope."
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