Mourinho blames van Gaal for Man Utd's poor form

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho blames his side’s poor run of form on previous coach Louis van Gaal, according to reports.

The Mirror is reporting that Jose Mourinho has told friends that he believes that the root of his team’s current struggles can be traced back to the man he replaced in the Old Trafford dugout, Louis van Gaal.

Mourinho is said to believe that the squad have been indoctrinated with van Gaal negative, overly cautious tactics, and that they remain afraid to take risks out of the pitch, despite the fact that van Gaal was sacked in May.

United have experienced a difficult three years since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, when the legendary Scot left the Red Devils as Champions of England after a hugely successful 26 years at the club.

His successor, David Moyes, was unable to reach the standards and results expected of one of the world’s biggest clubs, and was sacked after just 9 months in charge with United seventh in the Premier League.

Van Gaal then stepped in to steady the ship, and was able to get the Red Devils back into the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League in his fourth season.

But the following campaign, which saw the Old Trafford club espouse a drab brand of football, United finished fifth, and, despite winning the FA Cup, van Gaal was sacked.

Now Mourinho, who has overseen three defeats in the last three games, believes that the previous manager’s tactics have yet to be forgotten by his players.