"Their tactical plans are poor" - Danny Murphy points out 'shambolic' aspect of Manchester United's gameplay

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has ripped into Manchester United after their draw with Southampton in the Premier League. The side's inconsistent form continued following another deflating 1-1 draw with the Saints at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It was their third consecutive stalemate with the same scoreline in all competitions. They were also held by Burnley in the league after a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough on penalties.

On the league front, Ralf Rangnick's side are fifth in the table. But Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur all have a game or two in hand over them.

There's a real risk of the Red Devils slipping further down the standings and eventually missing out on a Champions League qualification for next season.

Murphy analyzed the game on BBC's Match of the Day program and criticized them for two important reasons. He said:

"Their work-rate off the ball is shambolic. Their tactical plans are poor. The worrying thing is Manchester United keep getting worse. They’re not getting better."

Manchester United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following a series of humiliating defeats in November but things have hardly improved since. Although they've lost only once in 12 league games under Rangnick, United have also won only six times.

Unless there's a dramatic upturn in form, the club looks set to finish outside the top four places in the end-season standings.

Manchester United return to action in the league on Tuesday against Brighton & Hove Albion.

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Murphy singles out Manchester United forward

In a further assessment of their draw with Southampton, the 44-year-old has also called out Jadon Sancho for exhibiting a lack of urgency.

He's shown an improvement in his performance lately but Murphy highlighted a very important aspect of his game that nearly cost United. He said:

"[Kyle] Walker-Peters flies forward and look at [Jadon] Sancho… Not bothered, not going to chase him, not going to track back, I’ll leave him free on the back-post and Southampton should be 1-0 up."

It hasn't been plain-sailing for the 21-year-old since his staggering £73 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

In 26 games, he's struck only four times in all competitions and has yet to open his assist account. But half of those strikes have this month alone, indicating he's slowly getting back in form.