Jose Mourinho must not adopt a
siege mentality at Manchester United if he is to be successful at Old
Trafford, according to Ron Atkinson.
After winning his first four competitive games as
United manager, Mourinho has seen his team lose three matches in eight
days - including a 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City.
The Portuguese was critical of referee Michael Oliver following United's 3-1 loss at Watford.
But Atkinson - who led United two FA Cup successes in
1983 and 1985 - does not believe an us-against-the-world approach will
work for Mourinho.
"I have never been a huge fan of this siege mentality he brings to his clubs," Atkinson said.
"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."
Atkinson added: "I was surprised by the way United played in the derby.
"All credit to City, who look phenomenal, but I thought Jose would have set up his team to play higher up the pitch.
"It would have
been an eye-opener for him to see the way City went about it, with David
Silva and Kevin De Bruyne finding pockets of space.
"United were never outnumbered in midfield, but
they were outmanoeuvred. You can't imagine that scenario if Roy Keane
and Paul Scholes had been playing.
"For the first 10 minutes, they would have announced
themselves, and tried to break up the little triangles City were
forming, and I didn't see that in Jose's team in the derby."
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