Jose Mourinho has lost confidence after Chelsea sacking, says Paul Merson
Saturday 24 September 2016 15:59, UK
Paul Merson believes Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho's confidence has been knocked since being sacked by Chelsea.
United have lost three of their last four fixtures and Mourinho heads into Saturday's clash with Leicester City - live on Sky Sports - with a big selection headache.
Merson thinks that Mourinho, who was given the boot by Chelsea last December, is struggling to find a formula that works at his new club.
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"I think he's tip-toeing at the moment," Merson said.
"I mean that in a way where he doesn't know what his best team is. I feel he's trying to keep everyone happy at the moment. What happened at Chelsea has knocked his confidence a little bit.
"Instead of going bang, bang, bang and making big decisions it's been a bit more careful because of the situation of what happened at Chelsea. He needs to sort it out quickly and put out what he believes is his best team."
Part of the selection issue facing Mourinho is surrounding Wayne Rooney, whose place in the starting XI has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, especially with the emergence of Marcus Rashford.
After scoring off the bench in United's 3-1 win over Northampton in midweek, Rashford has now scored on his European, Premier League, League Cup and England (senior and U21) debuts and has been involved in more goals in all competitions than any other United player since his debut last season (11 goals, 3 assists).
However, despite Rashford's big impact, Merson thinks there's too much pressure heaped upon the young England striker.
"There's problems at United - they're relying on Marcus Rashford who was only playing youth football last season," Merson said.
"He's having the same situation as when Anthony Martial came into the team. All of a sudden, Manchester United is on Rashford's shoulders. People are saying he's the saviour - it's a lot to ask for an 18-year-old to do in front of 70,000 people."
