No coup against Mourinho, dressing room atmosphere fine at Manchester United: Gary Neville

Bengaluru, August 23: Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, now a pundit for Sky Sports, has calmed the waters surrounding Jose Mourinho's situation at Manchester United by suggesting that the dressing room atmosphere is absolutely fine.

United endured a humiliating 2-3 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion last week and United fans were quick to ponder whether Mourinho has the confidence of his players at the club. The speculations stem from the comments Mourinho made over United's signings in the summer transfer window.

The Manchester club roped in three new faces this window but Mourinho was unhappy that his demands for three more stars - a defender, an attacker and a full back - went unheard by the club's chief executive Ed Woodward. Since then, Mourinho has been critical about the strength of the current squad and many fans believe that those comments have not gone down well with the players, leading to their lethargic display on the pitch against Brighton last week.

That apart, there is an alleged feud between midfielder Paul Pogba and the manager, which came to light after the opening match-day victory over Leicester City when Frenchman Pogba suggested that there are indeed some issues in the United setup. After playing 90 minutes at the Amex Stadium, the midfielder again suggested that the 'attitude' of his team was not right against Brighton, further supporting the argument that all is not right with Mourinho's leadership.

Neville has now come forward to ease those tensions among the fans. The former right-back, in a podcast of his own, has said the cohesion among the team and manager is absolutely fine and the Portuguese manager is nowhere close to losing his job at the moment.

"I speak to people at the club and I think that there is a good spirit in the dressing room. Today [Sunday] is a poor performance," Neville said in his self-titled podcast.

"This idea...he's not lost the players. I don't think for one minute he's lost the players so I think it would be wrong to suggest that about this game.

"That will be the wedge that will be tried to be driven and I have felt it being forced a little bit with the Pogba issue this week. They're trying to force this issue.

"I think he will leave the players because what he needs now is get them right for a week on Monday, a big game against Tottenham, and it is only the second game of the season.

"It's a worry but it's only the second game of the season so it's not terminal."

Ed Woodward can go on and fire Jose Mourinho now that he's unwilling to back him fully, but no manager will ever expose his and Glazers' incompetence in running matters football at the club than Jose did. Btw so much sense from @GNev2 last #MNF 👏 #mufc

— Jojes Gikeri (@Jojesgikeri) August 23, 2018

United will next face a stern test against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. The North London side, with two wins out of two, are on top of the Premier League table with Manchester City and Liverpool. A defeat in this game for United will see them concede the early advantage in the Premier League title race.

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