Manchester United must start turning progress into tangible success to alleviate pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after falling short in their quest of winning the Carabao Cup at the hands of their nearest rivals Manchester City, according to Gary Neville.
United suffered a fourth consecutive semi-final defeat in the space of 12 months, but Solskjaer refused to believe his players are suffering from a psychological issue when it comes to overcoming the penultimate hurdle.
Neville conceded that over the course of the 90 minutes, City deservedly reached their fourth successive League Cup final while sending out an ominous message to their Premier League rivals.
But the Sky Sports pundit says Solskjaer must end the club's wait for silverware at the earliest opportunity, with the Europa League success in 2017 the last time United lifted a trophy.
Neville told Sky Sports: "I said before tonight that I felt there was more expectation on this game for me as a Man United fan than there will be a week on Sunday against Liverpool at Anfield. No one this season expected Man United to challenge for the league title, but I think there was a feeling: win a trophy.
"Ole, at the end of this season, will have been there two-and-a-half years, and to go two-and-a-half years without a trophy, it will start to bring a pressure, because it helps you on your way.
"Jurgen Klopp needed a trophy and eventually got the Champions League. Pep Guardiola won the League Cup, Jose Mourinho at various clubs has won the League Cup just to get them going. He needed something and they were so close to a final with this game and in good form.
"It does pose a problem. I wouldn't say, sat here as a Man United fan, it causes me a great problem that in any way shape or form I'm looking at the manager's job at any point, but it will bring pressure down the line. Because if they go to Anfield and lose, people will then say 'glass half empty' again. It can turn like that.
"The reason Ole will not be resting on his laurels is because when you're in a job which presents the problem he had four, five, six weeks ago when he had people questioning whether he'd make it through to the end of the season, when it gets good, like it has in the last couple of days when they're joint top of the league and have a game in hand now on Liverpool, and they're in a semi-final, people think everything is fantastic, you don't get carried away the other way, either."
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