Paul Scholes believes Jose Mourinho is now in a 'difficult position' at Manchester United and could go if they get off to a bad start this season.
United finished 19 points behind Manchester City last season while fellow title rivals Liverpool have invested heavily in a bid to close the gap on the champions for the forthcoming campaign.
Mourinho has endured a frustrating pre-season both on and off the field due to mixed friendly results, including a heavy defeat to Liverpool, and a failure to bring his key targets to Old Trafford.
The United boss has warned that this will be a "difficult season" unless he gets at least one new face in, while he has also spoken about the impact of late-returning World Cup stars.
Leicester's visit could prove a tricky start to the Premier League on Friday and club great Scholes has highlighted the importance of hitting the ground running.
"He needs to get off to a good start this season, there's no doubt about that," Scholes told reporters in Hong Kong.
"It'll all depend on how his team plays, you know. If his team don't do well, if they're not playing well, if they're not entertaining people, they're not challenging for the league, then he possibly could go.
"But he's got great experience, he's been at top clubs, he's been in difficult positions before.
"He's in a difficult position now I think, but he needs to try to find a way to get out of it."
In terms of sustaining a title challenge, Scholes is doubtful.
Scroll down to see what the midfielder had to say...
"When you look at Manchester City, possibly Liverpool, I don't think they [United] have the quality of those two teams at the minute. Liverpool have made some really good signings. United finished above them last season," added the former midfielder.
"I just don't see United getting closer to City. City are a really good side, great manager, some great players, a way of playing that they all know about and Manchester United seem to be not too sure what's going on.
"You don't really know the team, you don't really know the players, you don't know how they're going to perform from one week to the next. So I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see them challenging for the league this year."
