Former Leicester City and Chelsea defender Robert Huth believes his former manager Jose Mourinho does not have the full control of the first-team squad at Manchester United. The Portuguese tactician has endured a tough third season with the Red Devils where they have already lost three league games and this sees them nine points behind the Premier League lead after just seven matches into the season.

Amidst this, there have been suggestions that Mourinho has fallen out with a number of players within the first-team squad and Huth feels that could be the case after another lacklustre league performance at West Ham United, he said: “What Mourinho had at Chelsea and at his other previous clubs was that the players bought 100 per cent into what he was trying to do.

“There was no ‘I don’t like what we’re doing’. Even if some players didn’t like what the plan was they bought into it and did the job 100 per cent. At the moment at United, there are too many voices saying ‘we should be doing this, we should be doing that or I should be playing in this position’. That’s when you get a performance like the one at West Ham, it just looked disjointed.”

Following the 3-1 defeat to West Ham, there were reports indicating that Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford could be coming to an end but those claims have been rebuffed by senior officials within the team who have deemed the speculation as ‘nonsense’. Mourinho’s team could only muster a goalless draw during the midweek Champions League game against Valencia but they should fancy returning to winning ways when they entertain struggling Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday night.

Newcastle are just one of three clubs including Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City who are yet to secure a victory this term and their prospects of picking up three points versus United remain slender this weekend, should Rafa Benitez revert to the ultra-defensive style of play.