Andy Cole believes the dressing room situation at Manchester United is now completely different from when he was at the club under Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson was known for running a tight ship at the club and compared to more recent years, there were fewer leaks coming out of the club.
Since his retirement in 2013, the dressing room has become increasingly unsettled with more reports appearing in the media that hint at dissent and disquiet.
Speaking to Betfred, Cole had his say on the state of the dressing room.
He said: “There’s definitely a mole isn’t there? Nothing comes out of a good dressing room, regardless of what’s been going on. Players fall out, the manager and players fall out and these are things that you’d expect to happen in football, but if you’re in a good dressing room, nobody hears about what’s happening.”
He continued: “When you fall out with players, you have to be very careful because ultimately you’re going to need them in the end, unless their replacement is better than what you had previously. For a long time now, Manchester United have brought in players who haven’t been much better than the players they’ve let go. We’ve been caught in that situation for over ten years now.”
With these changes in mind, he believes that current manager Erik ten Hag has a much tougher task of enforcing discipline.
“It’s a completely different situation now to when Sir Alex Ferguson was at the club,” he explained.
“Players used to be desperate to come to Manchester United and to win things. If it was like the old days, Erik ten Hag could fall out with Jadon Sancho and go out and get X, Y or Z. It’s a little bit different now because of the position that Manchester United find themselves in.
“It’s now harder for the club to entice players and encourage them to move to Old Trafford.”