Paul Ince: United players didn’t look like they wanted to beat Liverpool

The Liverpool performance at the weekend showed again that there are too many United players who aren't fit to wear the shirt, says Paul Ince....

Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini may not be the best players, but you know what you’re going to get from them, and that’s usually enthusiasm and a desire to play for the club.

The fans aren’t stupid, they can see the blatant lack of desire. On Sunday, United didn’t look like they wanted to win the game. They hoped they didn’t get beat, but that’s not enough.

It’s crystal clear to me that the entire club is in disarray, from top to bottom. The gap between United and Liverpool, and United and Man City is enormous. I can’t see them catching up for a long time, they’re years apart.

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Mourinho’s had a lot of crap to deal with, but some of it he’s brought on himself.

People are right to question the manager, but you must also look at the players, too. Are they really putting a shift in? Do they really care?

I’ve been there, players start forming cliques, in the hope of getting their manager sacked. You can tell from a couple of teams Mourinho picked recently who he believes he can trust, but they’re just not good enough.

Soccer Football – Premier League – AFC Bournemouth v Manchester United – Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain – November 3, 2018 Manchester United’s Chris Smalling in action Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Scrap it all and start again, and don’t give substandard players long-term contracts

When players like Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw and Jesse Lingard are getting long-term contracts, it shows how backward they are going.

Give them two or three-year contracts to keep them hungry, but don’t spoil them when they aren’t good enough for the club anyway.

A resounding issue at the club is that there are far too many players who aren’t fit to wear the shirt. Something has got to give.

From a football point of view, the whole club is a mess.

It’s hard to bring in eight or nine players, and to get rid of a load, but I honestly believe that’s what they need to do to start again. Otherwise, how far are you going to let the team slip behind everyone else?

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