3 things Jose Mourinho recently did that has deteriorated his relationship with his players

The self-styled Special One seems to have lost his mojo and is now consistently having run-ins with his own players. When Manchester United slipped up occasionally in the 2017-18 campaign, the fingers were almost always pointed at the players and they were asked to get in line and listen to the manager.

However, the fans are starting to lose faith in the manager who has constantly come under fire and has yet refused to acknowledge any part of this turmoil as his own failing. Instead, Mourinho has undermined his players on several occasions and in the dark fortnight that followed the Red Devils' draw at home against the Wolves, Mourinho seems to have escalated his blame game.

Maybe the fault does indeed lie with the players. Or maybe, it is shared. But the fact that there is a lot of toxicity about Manchester United at this point in time is undeniable. Some players seem to have had enough of the Portuguese tactician.

On that note, let's take a look at 3 things that Jose Mourinho did recently that could have very well deteriorated his relationship with the United squad.

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#3 Undermining Phil Jones and Eric Bailly after the Carabao Cup defeat

Bailly is used sparingly now

Just sit back and think about it for a moment. Say you're part of a big club- a club you've always dreamt of playing for. The competition is tight and the rivals are all going for each other's jugulars. How would you then feel if the manager goes to the media and tells them that he doesn't trust you with so much as a spot kick?

After United's embarrassing home defeat to Derby County in the Carabao Cup, Jose Mourinho publicly ridiculed 2 of his centre-backs Eric Bailly and Phil Jones. Jones had earlier missed his penalty that led to United's defeat but these things are extremely normal in football.

However, Jose Mourinho decided it was a good time to throw some dirt on them. In the post-match interview, he said,

“I knew we were going to be in trouble with Jones and with Eric. I knew we were going to be in trouble then.”

Mourinho has not backed away from publicly calling his players out and in the absence of a scientific precedent that suggests that all human beings respond the same way to a particular kind of stimuli, the United manager should seriously reconsider his man-management strategy.

#2 Calling Paul Pogba out in front of the media

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - where it all started to go wrong

Nobody would have forgotten this yet. It was absolute bedlam. On the day that the media were allowed to watch and record at the Carrington- on the day after the defeat to Derby- Mourinho called out Pogba for his social media activity.

Paul Pogba had posted a video of Luke Shaw, Andreas Pereira and himself laughing and having fun in the stands during halftime. But reportedly, due to some network error, the video was only posted after the game. Pogba had already left the stadium by the time the game was done and that proves that he couldn't possibly have posted the said video at full-time.

However, Jose Mourinho decided to call Pogba out while the media was filming and for a gaffer with as much experience as the 'Special One', there is no way that he did it unintentionally. Mourinho knew exactly what he was doing and this was perhaps the United manager's way of showing the media who's the boss at the club.

Mourinho was already annoyed with Pogba after the player's comment after the draw at the home against Wolverhampton where the World Cup winning midfielder urged his team to 'attack, attack, attack' when teams come to Old Trafford.

#1 Undermining his backline in various ways

Luke Shaw has been able to turn it around but most players struggle in toxic circumstances

Everyone knows how frustrated Jose Mourinho was when he couldn't convince Ed Woodward to sign a centre-back in the summer transfer window. It went public as most things have with Manchester United over the last couple of years.

However, Mourinho, in an in-your-face sort of manner, has responded by starting a central midfielder in the backline on 3 occasions already this season. Elsewhere, it would be unheard of but at Manchester United, it is just one of the things that the club just does every once in a while.

To add to this, Mourinho keeps putting the kibosh on his players' confidence by airing his grievances in public. After their dull performance against Valencia in the UEFA Champions League, Mourinho took a potshot at his defenders once again.

“The players tried. They raised the level of their efforts. They raised the level of their intensity in spite of the fact we don't have many with that intensity. We don't have the technical quality to build from the back."

"We tried to do something we did well which was to stop a fast team on the counter attack. We knew we wouldn't create 20 chances.”

Mourinho is starting to sound like Graeme Souness and any team could do with a Souness being at the helm.