Jose Mourinho needs to make an ‘adjustment’ at Manchester United in order to have a successful season, according to former England striker Brian Deane.
The Red Devils still have some work to do before the transfer window closes on Thursday evening, just 27 hours before they get their Premier League campaign underway against Leicester.
Mourinho has spent the best part of his summer either criticising his own players or bemoaning the club’s transfer activity, while rivals Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) appear to be taking a different approach with their team and in the media.
The Portuguese is 4/1 with Sky Bet to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job and Deane thinks he must change his ways.
“I think at Manchester United there is a problem with the manager,” the former Leeds, Leicester and Sheffield United forward told Sporting Life’s Premier League Preview podcast.
“He is making all the noises like he did when he signed his new contract at Chelsea – as soon as the ink had dried he was slagging everybody off.
“I’m sure Mourinho has a good relationship with his players deep down and, sometimes, it’s a bit of psychology you have to apply to get the best out of those players.
“He has been given money [over the years], with all the players they are producing, there’s other good players there. They know what money they have got and how much they can spend, but that is a good squad.
“For me, it needs an adjustment in terms of outlook, for the players to start playing with belief in themselves, because it looks as though they don’t believe in themselves, as if they are playing in boxes and can’t express themselves. It’s not just me, it’s what everybody says.”
One issue Mourinho faces before the end of the transfer window is keeping Paul Pogba - and ensuring he remains happy at Old Trafford.
The midfielder played a key role in France’s World Cup triumph and it has emerged in recent days that Barcelona have submitted a bid of £45m plus Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes to lure him to Spain
It has been argued Pogba looks like a different player for club and country, something his Old Trafford boss must look to change.
Deane continued: “He’s got a problem, because a lot of last year Pogba was getting berated, then he’s played for France and scored in the [World Cup] final, lifted that trophy.
"Mourinho could be looking thinking ‘maybe I didn’t manage him right, maybe I’ve got to adapt’.
“The truth is that players don’t like being criticised and if he continues to do that you can see the players rounding on him. I don’t think there’s any need for it either.”
Pogba is 20/1 with Sky Bet to be the PFA Player of the Year for 2018/19 and their PR Director Dale Tempest, a former Fulham and Huddersfield Town striker, agrees with Deane.
He said: “Mourinho is a bottle half-empty man. Managing now in modern football you need a psychology degree.
“He has this deflection – there’s a group of players over there, the club there and me here – and he talks about the three entities as if they are not part of the same thing. You wouldn’t get Pep doing that and you wouldn’t get Klopp doing that, they talk as one.
“I know he likes creating this ‘them against us’ atmosphere, but when you are outing players like that and it comes down to it where you need those players, they won’t be there for you.
“If he’s got anything about him, when Pogba walks into the dressing room [he should] put his arm around him and say ‘you’re going to win us the title this year, you are my main man, you are the captain, the leader of this club, you’re going to play here and everything is going to be around you’.
"Will he do that? No.”
Listen to Brian Deane and Dale Tempest’s thoughts on Manchester United, other title challengers and the season ahead with Sporting Life’s Premier League Preview podcast.
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Odds correct as of 1530 BST on 07/08/18