Man Utd: Why it is dangerous to write off Jose Mourinho- Alan Shearer

It has been a difficult pre-season for Manchester United, and we will find out how it has affected their players when they get the new Premier League campaign started against Leicester on Friday night.

This time last year, everything at United seemed very upbeat and optimistic, but now there seems to be a different mood around the club, and their manager.

Jose Mourinho has had the grumps all summer and when you compare his character now to the way he was when he first arrived in the Premier League with Chelsea in 2004, it is chalk and cheese.

Back then he was happy, witty and arrogant, and seemed to always speak with a smile.

These days, he is far more likely to have a frown on his face - and it seems as if he wants to fight everyone.

I can understand his frustration, because every manager wants a bigger and better pool of players than they have already got.

Jose is no different - he has made it clear he wants to get another central defender in before Thursday's deadline.
But he has already spent an awful lot of money in his two years in charge of United and, if you look at their squad, they have so much quality there.

The spine of their side, with David de Gea, Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku is particularly strong, even before you get on to players like Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial
'It would be dangerous to write off Man Utd or Mourinho'
Their team is definitely already good enough to challenge champions Manchester City for the title, but can Jose get the best out them, and can they play in a style that can keep their fans happy?

Like any big club, they need some silverware - in his first season at Old Trafford, 2016-17, Mourinho won two trophies - the League Cup and Europa League - but he won nothing last season.

So, the pressure is on and there is even speculation he might not last much longer in his job.

But despite his current downbeat demeanour, it would be dangerous to write United or Mourinho off.

We have only seen him when he has appeared in front of the TV cameras this summer and heard what he has told the media, and I suspect he will behave very differently on the training ground with his players.

I am still expecting them to be very strong this season, and I actually think that, along with Liverpool, they will be a lot closer to Manchester City this time