In the build up to Man United's clash with Arsenal tonight, BT Sport delved into the turmoil at Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho finds himself eight points off the top four after only 13 games.
Former United player Paul Scholes was on hand to give his take on the matter, and pointed to the exit of Mourinho's longtime assistant Rui Faria at the end of last season as a reason for United's poor form:
I think the assistant (leaving) is a big one. He was with him for a long time, at every club with him, suddenly he's gone.
Apparently he was very influential in what he did day to day. He's (Mourinho) lost that, and he does look a bit lonely at times and I think that's a big part of it.
The show also discussed Paul Pogba's position at the club, with the midfielder benched for the Arsenal game. Rio Ferdinand argued that Jose Mourinho could learn from Didier Deschamps treatment of the former Juve midfielder.
I look at Paul Pogba when he played in the World Cup and he was an integral member of that team. He wasn't the showboating Paul Pogba we've been used to seeing. He was an effective Paul Pogba. That comes from the manager laying down the law.
He was dragged off in a game before the World Cup started in a friendly and that set the tone, 'you do what I ask you, or you ain't going to play'.His relationship with Deschamps, it seems to be a more respectful relationship. There's more of a closeness between them.
Scholes took umbrage with Ferdinand's point, and made the counterpoint that a relationship a player has with a manager shouldn't affect their performance.
Perhaps a naive view from Scholes, with Ferdinand stating that 'players have changed', and footballers are not as tough as in years gone by and are more affected by the relationships with their managers than previously.
