The former Red Devils defender believes the Portuguese coach is not the main reason for the club’s worst start to a season for 29 years
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville says the club’s hierarchy, and not manager Jose Mourinho, are to blame for the club’s current plight.
The 3-1 defeat to West Ham on Saturday was United’s third in their opening seven Premier League games, contributing to their worst start to a season for 29 years.
Reports are already suggesting that Mourinho could be sacked as early as this week following a beginning to the campaign which also included an exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Derby County.
Neville, however, feels Mourinho is not the man to blame for the club’s problems and feels their issues can be traced back to the dismissal of David Moyes in 2014.
“This mess started when United sacked David Moyes after 8 months and we lost all sense of the values that the club had been built on for 100 years,” he wrote on Twitter.
“It’s not the manager it’s the lack of football leadership above him. They are bouncing all over the place with no plan!”
Responding to the suggestion that the appointment of Moyes was the trigger for United’s downturn, Neville added: “That’s another question but when they sacked him after eight months it went into pinball, reactive mode and chasing it! No plan…”
The capitulation at the London Stadium ended a torrid week for Mourinho which included defeat to Championship side Derby at Old Trafford and the stripping of Paul Pogba as the club’s vice-captain.
Mourinho then had a public falling out with Pogba during a United training session regarding a social media post – another sign of the discontent around Old Trafford.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been the main target of criticism from supporters, with a banner criticising him being flown during United’s win at Burnley earlier this month.
The message ‘Ed Woodward: A Specialist in Failure’, mimicked a put-down first uttered by Mourinho in relation to former Arsene boss Arsene Wenger.