Former Chelsea star Andy Townsend is of the opinion that Manchester United are currently struggling under Jose Mourinho because the Red Devils do not have the personnel to suit the Portuguese manager’s style of play.
Manchester United, who appointed Mourinho in the summer, started the season brightly by beating Premier League champions Leicester City in the Community Shield and winning their opening three league fixtures.
The Old Trafford outfit have since lost three consecutive matches in all competitions; a 1-0 defeat to Feyenoord in the Europa League was sandwiched between Premier League losses to Manchester City and Watford by 2-1 and 3-1 margins respectively.
And Townsend, who turned out for the Blues between 1990 and 1993, attributed Manchester United’s recent struggles to the club not having speedy players such as Chelsea had in their title winning season under Mourinho in the 2014/15 campaign.
“The personnel at Manchester United at the moment do not suit the way Jose would like to play”, Townsend said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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“The only pace they have got in the team is the full-backs.
“If you look at his Chelsea team a couple of years ago when they were very, very strong and you think about [Eden] Hazard and Willian, their energy, their pace and their threat in wide areas whenever they went away from home, so dangerous.
“I look at United at the moment and the only ones that can run are [Anthony] Martial and [Marcus] Rashford.”
Manchester United, who will next play Northampton Town in the League Cup tomorrow, are currently seventh in the Premier League.
