Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen tells Jose Mourinho: ‘Don’t fuel the media, just get performances up to scratch’

The ex-Red Devil has had his say on United's dreadful start to the season as rumours of Mourinho's sacking continue to circulate

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Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen believes Jose Mourinho needs to stop fuelling the speculation about his future and instead focus on getting on-pitch performances up to scratch.

The pressure has been piled on Mourinho after United suffered two defeats in their opening three matches, making it the club’s worst start to a season since the inaugural Premier League campaign of 1992/93.

          Mourinho is the favourite Premier League manager to lose his job first

It is also the worst start to a campaign ever suffered by Mourinho in his career, and various reports suggest the Portuguese could be axed if United lose their third game in a row when they visit Burnley on Sunday.

Mourinho’s antics to the media appear to be fuelling these reports, with his storming out of a press conference after Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat of United making headline news.

He demanded ‘respect, respect, respect’ for winning three Premier League titles while Chelsea manager – more than the other 19 managers combined – and refused to accept his side were second-best despite being comprehensively outplayed by Spurs, in the second half at least.

        Mourinho demanded respect for the three Premier League titles he won with Chelsea

Not a day goes by when there isn’t another story concerning Mourinho doing the rounds, and Meulensteen, who worked at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson, feels the Portuguese needs to focus his energy on getting United’s performances back up to scratch – rather than using it all ‘outside’ the club.

Speaking to the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Meulensteen said: “What he needs to do is use his energy from within, and not from the outside. At the end of the day media and social media will always be there, and there’s no point fuelling that.

“You need to sort things out from within and close the ranks, make sure players are starting to enjoy training again and believing in the way they want to play and perform.