Meulensteen admits club are 'broken' for two reasons as he points the blame

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is coming under increasing scrutiny for performances on the pitch, while the overall direction of the club is also being criticised

Sir Alex Ferguson’s trusted ally Rene Meulensteen has said Manchester United are a broken club on and off the field. Meulensteen spent five years as Ferguson’s first-team coach - during a period where the club dominated domestically and won a Champions League.

He departed - along with Fergie - in 2013 with the next 12 years seeing the Red Devils slip further and further into mediocrity.

And after their worst-ever Premier League finish last season, the signs are ominous for more struggles under current boss Ruben Amorim. Defeat to Brentford last time out was their third in six games, leaving them marooned in the bottom half.

United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney said earlier this week that he thinks the ‘soul has gone’ from the football club and that a new engine was required to get it moving again.

Meulensteen offered an equally damning appraisal, suggesting that the issues far extend their desperate struggles on the pitch - pointing some of the blame at United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe.

Appearing on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, he said: “The club is broken in two ways. Everybody can see that they’re broken on the pitch, they come up against Brentford with a new manager, they’re finding their feet. If it was under [Thomas] Frank, you would know you’re in for a game against Brentford, he will throw the kitchen sink at you.

“Credit to Brentford, because they had a game plan and it worked a treat, and Manchester United has got zero ability to turn that around to some extent. They’re broken there.

“The club is also broken, off the field. The culture that I was part of and that Sir Alex built was a fantastic culture to be a part of, and it was a family, everybody together. Everybody was looking after each other, and everybody felt valued to some extent.

“All those things that have happened in the background, with the ownership, with Jim Ratcliffe coming in, the redundancies, the whole culture Alex Ferguson built for 26 years has been completely stripped away.”

Rooney spoke similarly about the culture at Old Trafford and the impact of the wholesale changes and job losses implemented since INEOS’ acquired a stake in the club.

"I don't recognise the whole football club. I don't see players fighting, I don't see character, I don't see desire to win,” he said on the Wayne Rooney Podcast.

"I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again - expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point.

"It's not even just results on the pitch. It's everything about the club that needs fixing - Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have walked into a real challenge.

"We're seeing staff members getting sacked after 20, 30 years who are very important people to that football club. The soul has gone from the club. It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kickstart that football club."