Paul Ince has hit out at the current Manchester United side by claiming they have no leaders and that the club has 'lost its presence'.
The former United star played over 280 games for the club, winning two Premier League titles and the European Cup Winners Cup among a glut of trophies, but the current generation have failed to live up the great Red Devils teams of the past.
Erik ten Hag's men are currently sixth in the Premier League table, eight points off a Champions League place, and Ince told William Hill’s podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan, that he thinks the side lacks leadership and that in ten year's time no one in the current team will be remembered as a Premier League great.
“In football we always talk about leaders, but they’re a dying breed," Ince said.
"They don’t have them anymore, society doesn’t breed them and I think it’s a generational thing. When you talk about leaders and characters, that’s what Manchester United was based on. Steve Bruce wasn’t a great player but he was a great leader, and that’s a big difference. I’m not sure they’ll regain that under Erik ten Hag.
“When I look at Man United over the last six or seven years, they’ve lost their presence. They no longer have the presence that they used to. We used to beat teams just by the way we stood in the tunnel, but teams now think they can go to Old Trafford and get something. Man United now play counter-attacking football. People say we’re going to get the Man United of old back, where it’s free-flowing football with wingers, but we’re not. They need to be competing with the big teams.
“Two years ago, Ten Hag comes in and everyone says the remit is to get closer to Manchester City, but now they’re further away from Manchester City – and not just Manchester City, but Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham… It gets tougher, and tougher, and tougher.
"If I said to you in 10 years’ time, name me a great Man United player playing now, who would you say? At Liverpool you’ve got Mohamed Salah, at Man City you’ve got Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland… In 10 years’ time, there’s no-one you’d look back on and say he’s a great player for Man United.”
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