Gary Neville believes Ruben Amorim will need two or three transfer windows to build a squad at Manchester United that can play his system.

United are 15th in the Premier League table following their defeat to fellow strugglers Tottenham, with James Maddison's early goal the difference on Sunday. 

The result marked Amorim's ninth defeat in all competitions since taking over from Erik ten Hag back in November, with his style of play failing to transpire at Old Trafford so far. 

Indeed, United have lost 12 of their 25 Premier League games this season (W8 D5), their most defeats from their first 25 matches of a league campaign since 1973-74 (13) – when they were last relegated from the top-flight.

They have also been defeated in eight of their last 12 top-flight matches (W3 D1). Since the date of the first game in this spell (December 4th v Arsenal), the only sides to lose more matches in the competition are the current bottom two, Leicester City (nine) and Southampton (10).

United's recent struggles have not been helped by a season-ending injury to Lisandro Martinez, while Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo also face lengthy spells on the sidelines. 

Christian Eriksen and Leny Yoro also missed the defeat against Ange Postecoglou's side, with all the players on United's bench, except 30-year-old Victor Lindelof, were teenagers who had not made a first-team appearance for the club.

The Red Devils' struggles have been at the start of games, with only Leicester (seven) scoring fewer first half goals in the Premier League this season than United (nine).

Amorim's side have scored just once in the first half of their last 10 league games combined, with that goal a Bruno Fernandes penalty against Brighton back in January.

United welcomed one January addition, with left-back Patrick Dorgu signing from Lecce, but they also let a number of players leave the club on loan last month. 

Marcus Rashford, Antony and Tyrell Malacia all departed Old Trafford on temporary deals, arguably players that could have helped United amid their recent struggles. 

Antony, in particular, has showcased his talents in LaLiga with Real Betis. The Brazilian has three goal involvements (two goals, one assist) in his first three games in Spain. 

An overhaul at United has been spoken about, and former United full-back Neville conceded it could take a while before Amorim gets the squad he wants for the future. 

"How quickly can Amorim, not just get good players in, but get players who can fit into this system?" the Sky Sports pundit said on The Gary Neville Podcast.

"It's a peculiar system, 3-4-3. It's a system where you've got to find two midfield players who are good enough to play with each other and cover a lot of ground.

"You've got to find three centre-backs - with two of the outside ones capable of playing out wide in the full-back areas, when the wing-backs go forward.

"So you're asking for specialists throughout the team. It's not like other systems which are a little bit more forgiving.

"How quickly can Amorim and the recruitment team at United get to a point where they can adapt this squad into a 3-4-3 squad?

"It's going to be a minimum of two to three transfer windows because of the investment that's been made, and we know clubs on the edge of PSR.

"They've lost £300m in the last three years, so there's a real struggle and a real fight to be able to spend the money that they need in the transfer market as well.

"There's been a lot of waste in the last few years".