Mourinho Running Out Of Excuses

Jose Mourinho is running out of excuses following Manchester United's stuttering start to the season, according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.

Mourinho was sent to the stands for the second time this season as United were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday and could now face a two-match ban. 

The result left United in sixth, eight points off the top four and 11 points behind leaders Chelsea, following a run of just one win in their last seven Premier League matches. 

Mourinho, who spent close to £150m in the summer, including a world record £93.25m transfer fee on Paul Pogba, declined to speak to the media after the match and Redknapp believes the pressure is starting to get to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss. 

"The last 16 months or so it's been very strange. The behaviour from the first day of last season against Swansea with the doctor to just the reaction to things, it strikes of a man that feels very uncomfortable within himself at the moment," he told Premier League Daily. 

"I look at how the results have gone, it's a terrible start to the season, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal did better and you can see he is feeling the pressure. He spent vast amounts of money in the summer, there are no excuses and he is running out of excuses.

"The worry for me, and I think for everybody at Manchester United and the people that would have been maybe against the Jose Mourinho signing, is that these are the traits he has after two or three years.

"This is only a few months into the season and he's already starting to blame the results, in terms of 'everybody is against him' or 'they've been unlucky'." 

Earlier this month, Mourinho appeared to publicly criticise centre-back Chris Smalling and left-back Luke Shaw after they missed United's 3-1 win at Swansea City, suggesting they had shown a lack of bravery.

And Redknapp feels Mourinho's decision to question the desire of certain members of his squad openly in the media may have backfired on him. 

"One or two players he has singled out, Chris Smalling perhaps saying he didn't want to play and a couple of days later he's got a broken toe. You can't question players' integrity," he added. 

"It's a different game to six or seven years ago when players would go 'Okay that's fine, we'll show you', but players now talk, they'll be in their little cliques saying 'Why is the manager blaming us, he should probably be looking at himself'. 

"When you're the Manchester United manager, you're a statesman and you cannot behave like that. I know Sir Alex Ferguson's behaviour wasn't always exemplary but I can't remember too many examples of him doing that. 

"He looks like a man who is really, really under pressure, angry within himself, he doesn't look happy. This should be his dream job, but I am finding it really uncomfortable to watch him at the moment."

Credit: Skysports.com