Man Utd 0-0 Valencia: Jose Mourinho Can Solve Old Trafford Problems – Dion Analysis Dublin

I was expecting to see a Manchester United reaction against Valencia, but we did not have one – their performance was simply not enough.

As coach Jose Mourinho said, a 0-0 draw in the Champions League was not catastrophic, but the display was a huge disappointment.

In fact, the quality was so bad that I did not even feel like watching a United team.

For starters, I've never seen so many players give the ball so often, and the fans had no way of getting them out of their seats because of the lack of pace and urgency.

The fans deserved better and they started leaving Old Trafford after 75 minutes. To be honest, I do not blame them.

United has to go back to the basics – because it does not even do it well enough.

What I mean by that, is to pass the ball to 20 meters with the rhythm, or talk to each other and look and look like a unit.

It sounds ridiculous because we are talking about such expensive players who make a lot of money, but that's where they are.

What happens next? Well, I do not think that returning Mourinho is the solution, because I think it can work things out, but the question is how?

"In my day, players purify the air"

It's really hard to watch United like that and I'd like to know what's going on behind the scenes.

There is something fundamentally wrong about which we are not aware because the unity they need in their team is just not there yet.

Whatever the problem, I want them to solve the problem quickly. United still has world-class players and a world-class manager, but their performances are far removed from the world class.

How do you solve the field problems affecting the team? Well, in my day – a long time ago, in the early nineties – we settled the situation ourselves.

The players would host our own team meeting where everyone would go to the pub or for a meal. We were meeting in a room and everyone had a say.

Everyone had to talk too, and you had to tell the room what you thought was the problem. If, for example, you had a problem with another player, you had to say what it was about. If you had a problem with the manager, you had to explain why.

When it happened at United, senior players – Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson, Gary Pallister, Peter Schmeichel and Paul Ince, for example – passed on to their coaches what they had said.

It was not about talking about it in people's backs; everything was broadcast in public and everyone accepted it because we all wanted the same thing: success.

We all wanted it at United and we wanted to work with each other because we thought we were good enough to get it.

I still believe that all this is the case with the current United team.

If you look at their home team on Tuesday, you can not dispute the quality.

What they must do is find a way to get back to the level they need to be.

The reaction of the fans who whistled during the final whistle indicates that they are as frustrated and disappointed as me.

They are in the process of concluding the contract right now, and they want that to be resolved as well. Everyone connected to the club does it.

Do players play for the manager? I would say no

I was at Old Trafford for BBC Radio 5 Live and although the crowd was obviously unhappy, I did not have the feeling that they were anti-Jose.

After the match, I was asked if I still thought it was the right one – and I think it still could be it.

However, something dramatic must be said or done to make this happen, because United must be in harmony and, for the moment, this is certainly not the case.

Defender Chris Smalling came later and said the locker room was recovering, but I saw no evidence of that against Valencia.

Do they play for the manager? I do not know, but according to the body language that I saw on Tuesday, I would say no.

I saw a lot of weapons in the air and players wondering why they had not had the pass or why it was not better, which is very rare to see in Old Trafford.

Yes, it is Mourinho who must lead any improvement. He is the manager and it is up to him to make sure that the players do exactly what he wants them to do on the field.

But United's players must also shoulder their responsibilities.

For now, I do not see them enough to dig deep and say, "Well, I'll take this game to the skin of the neck and make things happen."

I have not seen it for a long time and it is very frustrating.

"Other defeats could leave Mourinho on the brink"

Before the match against Valencia, I asked for a positive performance following the disappointing loss of West Ham on Saturday.

Unfortunately, even if I had 20 minutes of positive football early in the game when United was playing with energy and intent, that was just about it.

Subsequently, some of their players seemed to change position and Marouane Fellaini advanced a little further. Midfielder Paul Pogba lost ground.

It's where it started to be disconnected. Nobody was close enough to striker Romelu Lukaku to support him, and Pogba started playing so deeply that he was recovering the ball from the center back Eric Bailly – and that He could not hurt people from there.

In addition, I have rarely seen a player from United attack one of the countless centers crossed left and right and say, "This is my ball."

Do not take anything away from Valencia. The Spaniards have been fantastic, but United can not afford to let that happen again.

They have upcoming matches that could start their season if they win – but the pressure on Mourinho will increase if they do not.

Newcastle, who will travel to Old Trafford on Saturday in the Premier League, will think they can try the men of Mourinho.

Then, United faces Chelsea, who sees Mourinho return to Stamford Bridge, then to Juve and the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford in the Champions League.

None of these games will be easy and Mourinho should be careful.

I do not think it's at a stage where he needs to get positive results in those matches or he's missing – but any further defeats will leave him in a very precarious position.

I just hope that he has understood correctly. I think this United team has a lot more to give – and it could still happen for them under Mourinho.

Dion Dublin was addressing Chris Bevan of BBC Sport.