Former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson believes the “siege mentality” that Jose Mourinho has used in the past will not work at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were rocked with three defeats in just over a week, including Sunday night’s shock 3-1 loss to Watford.
Always one to try and generate an ‘us against them’ attitude at the teams he leads, Mourinho lashed out at referee Michael Oliver after the result at Vicarage Road, however, ex-United manager Atkinson claims that the Portuguese needs to think of a different approach to deal with the criticism.
“I have never been a huge fan of this siege mentality he brings to his clubs,” said Atkinson.
“There’s nothing wrong with being fiercely protective of your players, but that doesn’t mean you have to antagonise everybody else.
“I don’t think that approach would work at Manchester United because it can lead to the club becoming claustrophobic.
“It is a global brand and you cannot run it as your personal fiefdom. United is an expansive club, it’s a club of the people. Telling everyone that ‘It’s us against the world’ doesn’t really wash, because United have lots of friends — they probably have more fans on the planet than anyone else.
“Jose has an engaging personality and it would be a shame if he got sidetracked by siege mentality and taking on the world.”
United will look to regain some confidence with a victory when they take on Northampton in the EFL Cup midweek.
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