Manchester United currently sit in sixth position in the Premier League table.
Former player and current pundit Paul Merson believes Manchester United will struggle to make the top four this season based on what they have produced so far, the Daily Star report.
United missed out on a place in the Champions League as a result of finishing fifth last season and it prompted a summer of change, spearheaded by the arrival of new boss Jose Mourinho.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly have all joined the club but early performances suggest that not much progress has been made at Old Trafford.
United have taken just four points from their last four matches, and Merson warns that they could struggle to make the Premier League top four this term without significant improvement.
“Manchester United are going to struggle to finish in the top four at the rate they’re going,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star.
“I’m not sure they are Champions League material. They should have blown Stoke away in the first 20 minutes last Sunday. But after that I’m not sure they looked like scoring.
“When Jose Mourinho starts criticising his players in public he’s just showing his frustration. He knows they haven’t been good enough.”
Despite winning their opening three league matches, the Red Devils’ recent poor form has seen them drop out of the top four and been replaced by the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
There is no doubt that those three teams, plus Manchester City, are performing better than United at present, while others such as Everton and Chelsea have also shown potential.
Mourinho will be under pressure to cement a place in the top four after such a heavy outlay in the summer, though in the meantime fans will expect improved performance and a bigger threat in the final third.
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