The body language that tells us Jose’s losing his players again

JOSE MOURINHO lost the players at Real Madrid and chelsea. Now he is in danger of losing the dressing room at Manchester United.

He has slated his players in recent weeks, calling them childish and immature. He has bemoaned a lack of funds. What must the players be thinking when he is effectively saying they are not good enough?

Watch him on the bench and you see him reeling away when a player misses a pass. Do you think the players cannot see it, too? There needs to be more togetherness between Mourinho and his players but at the moment it feels like us and them.

He is obsessed with success but is pushing his players too hard. They looked deflated and devoid of confidence.

I felt for Luke Shaw against Southampton. Mourinho was five yards from him on the touchline barking instructions but he needs to trust his player’s decisionmaking. By the end, Shaw looked a nervous wreck.

Mourinho has lost Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Maybe it is intentional because he wants to sell them. But they should respond with performances that make it hard for them to be pushed out.

I feel that Jesse Lingard (right) has almost been rebelling against Mourinho with his performances of late. Earlier this season Mourinho was reluctant to pick him, now he is undroppable. Pep Guardiola has improved every player at city. Is Mourinho getting more from Shaw and Mkhitaryan? Marcus Rashford and anthony Martial do not have any less potential than Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling but you cannot say Mourinho has got as much out of his young forwards. United have made great strides under Mourinho. He took over a club in transition with an ageing squad and won two trophies in his first year. What he needs to do is rekindle the feel-good factor they had at the start of the season. Until October, they were playing with freedom but it changed when Mourinho pulled the handbrake at Liverpool. city’s players get their enjoyment from the football they play. With Mourinho you get that from trophies. The problem is that when you play a defensive style it is not enjoyable when things go wrong. He has what it takes to turn things round but he cannot afford to fall out of love with his players. It has cost him before and could do so again.