Manchester United legend David Beckham pursued a career of high standards incubated under the auspices of Alex Ferguson.
Beckham and high-profile teammates including Roy Keane and Gary Neville can be quite forthright when it comes to modern-day Man Utd and the players' inability to live up to the expected levels.
As well as a famous Champions League triumph, the former England captain won the Premier League six times with United but they haven't won the title since 2013.
While the Red Devils have continued to grab the odd bit of silverware, their on-field stock has fallen under a succession of managers in the post-Ferguson era.
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They've finished outside the top four regularly since their iconic manager's retirement and slid into the bottom half of the table last season.
Without three points on the final day, an even worse placing than 15th was on the cards.
Beckham, who was a Ballon d'Or runner-up and a league champion in four countries, was understandably underwhelmed by the current United crop after Sunday's callow derby defeat at the hands of Manchester City.
"Being an ex-player, and being a fan of the club, I would hope that they are hurting like we are as fans," he told CBS Sports Golazo via talkSPORT.
"And I'm sure they are because they're professionals. They're not going out there not wanting to win the game. They've just come up against a team like City, at City.
Beckham was a winner and a loser in derby matches – albeit not in Manchester, where he was unbeaten – and knows a thing or two about handling oneself as a professional after losing to one's rivals.
"Whenever you lose these games, you don't go out for a few weeks," Beckham added.
"Because you know you can't walk around Manchester and bump into United fans, because it's just not a good place to be in."
Beckham won three and lost three of his eight games against Barcelona as a Real Madrid player.
Little sign of improvement under Amorim
United have been off the pace in the 2025-26 season.
Unencumbered by European football after finishing closer to the relegation zone last season and losing the Europa League final, Ruben Amorim's team look troubled again despite big investment in attacking players.
The Red Devils have won one of their four Premier League matches and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Grimsby Town.
Sunday's loss left them eight points behind the early pace-setters.
Topics: Football, Premier League, Manchester United, David Beckham
Chris Nee