3 things Jose Mourinho has to do to make Manchester United successful again  

Things have to change at United under Jose Mourinho. Negative performances, player unrest and disappointing results against smaller sides have all characterized the Portuguese's reign at the club. He's never looked like winning the title and even at such an early stage of the season with only 2 games played, unless some seismic shift happens fast, United's chances of winning the title look extremely slim, especially with Manchester City and Liverpool both looking so impressive.

Mourinho seems unwilling to change his tactics, insisting that everything is fine and that all is well at the club but you only have to look at last week's farcical performance and result against Brighton to know that's not the truth. The players were clearly unhappy and it's not often that a Mourinho side concedes 3 first-half goals away from home.

However, there are clear things that Mourinho can change if he is willing to adapt his famously rigid approach.

#1 Go back to a more attacking style of football

Manchester United have always had a tradition of attacking football

This is the first and most obvious thing Mourinho needs to do to restore order in the United camp and bring success back to the club.

United have a long tradition of attacking football, dating back to the days of the Busby Babes and of course Sir Alex was a huge proponent of attacking football and wearing the opponent down relentlessly and through making use of the whole pitch, in a similar manner to how Manchester City do now with players like Sane and Sterling.

Mourinho has to go back to this style of football and revert from his ultra-defensive principles, because it's clearly not working. Such a focus on defence and midfield has led to a decline in standards up front and indeed at the back as it proved against Brighton last weekend where all 3 goals were the result of defensive errors.

Currently, Lukaku looks like the only player who can regularly contribute goals, with perhaps Pogba and Lingard chipping in occasionally (if it's Lingard it will probably be a spectacular long-range goal). Under Sir Alex, goals were shared all over the pitch with Giggs, Scholes, Nani and even the defence (particularly Vidic) all regularly contributing to the scoresheet.

Mourinho does have the players to do this - Sanchez, Mata, Martial, Rashford etc. could all figure and contribute to an attacking approach. If Mourinho will allow it, United could blow teams away as we saw at the start of last season- when teams were getting beaten 4-0 fairly regularly.

#2 Bring back the fear factor

Old Trafford has been a daunting place for many teams to come

Old Trafford has long been a ground to strike fear into the hearts of opponents and Sir Alex often used to remark that opponents would turn up to the ground already beaten before the game had kicked off, such was the effect of the ground (and the several world-class names the opposition would be facing). Teams coming to the ground knowing that the chances of them leaving with even a point was very slim.

These days, Old Trafford still is a fortress to a certain extent- Mourinho has only lost 4 times at Old Trafford in 2 years, to only 3 different opponents (Manchester City have beaten United twice at the Theatre of Dreams since Mourinho took over).

Nevertheless, even though Mourinho's home record is actually really good, the fear factor that United used to have has become virtually non-existent. More and more teams come to United knowing that getting a point or even more is possible.

Of course, Mourinho himself is responsible for the loss of this fear factor as his defensive philosophy has blunted the Reds' attacking edge. This is clear proof that United need to change their approach, with several smaller sides (who would probably have easily been beaten by the United in the Fergie era) taking on United and winning. Brighton have beaten United twice in a row, the Reds lost to them, Huddersfield, West Brom, Newcastle, Sevilla and Basel last season and drew winnable games against Stoke, Southampton, Leicester and Burnley among others.

The fear factor must return and to this, Mourinho must revert to the club's roots of attacking football and intimidating the opposition with the sheer wealth of attacking talent they possess.

#3 Look to the old guard for support

Carrick's experience as a United legend could prove vital to Mourinho

Even though Mourinho has insisted that Michael Carrick is not ready to be an assistant manager, Carrick's experience as a Manchester United player/legend could be extremely useful to Jose, even if it is just as a coach, rather than an actual number 2.

Despite having his critics because of his less-heralded qualities, Carrick was very much a United legend in his own right, winning every single major honour with the club including 5 Premier League titles. In addition to being a great player with an extensive knowledge of the game himself, he played under arguably the greatest manager of all time in Sir Alex and chances are some of that knowledge rubbed off. The number of managers that used to play under Sir Alex at United is tantamount to that fact (Roy Keane, Steve Bruce, Paul Ince..).

It's already been observed that Carrick is going to be the good cop to Mourinho's bad cop but that can be effective (think the genial Brian Kidd to the more gruff Sir Alex). His more personal touch maybe be more beneficial with the more fragile egos of younger players such as Rashford and Martial, whose confidence have definitely been shattered by Mourinho's often brutal approach.

Carrick could clearly have a positive influence on what is going on at United behind the scenes and of course, perhaps Mourinho could even look to the old guard on the pitch as well. Smalling and Jones would probably do better than the Bailly/Lindelof partnership in the centre of defence and Valencia will add some steel and drive to the back 4 once he has overcome his recent injury problems. Further up the field, Pogba is a sure pick in the center of the park and Lingard could provide a more dynamic, attacking option up front.

Whether Mourinho is willing to change his approach is perhaps what will determine his future career prospects at United in whether he even has a job or not. He's going to have to change something soon as what he is currently doing is clearly not working. He's already had 2 years in charge and a failure to deliver the Premier League title in his third season would surely result in him being sacked.