Mourinho was famed for his ability to motivate... but he's forgotten how to man-manage

This is what Frank Lampard said about Jose Mourinho two years ago when reflecting on their time together at Chelsea: 'Jose is the best manager I have been fortunate to play under. He is brilliant, a real man-manager. He made us believe. Jose brought a mindset with him.'

That was always Mourinho's main quality. He was never a visionary coach, more a planner and organiser. His real skills lay in his handling of individuals, his ability to motivate and inspire. He has always been a manager of people in its purest sense.

So as he presides over Manchester United's slide towards the dark shadows of the Premier League title contest, it is pertinent to ask questions of his actual management now.

Lampard talked about a mindset. It is a rather cliched term but it is relevant here. What kind of mental and emotional state is Mourinho encouraging in his players as the new year begins?

Lampard also said Chelsea players used to 'believe'. Looking at United's players at the moment, it would appear the only thing they believe is that every afternoon or evening on a football pitch is going to be very difficult indeed.

A manager cannot be responsible for everything at a club. Some things are out of his control. But he is responsible for the mood, attitude and atmosphere. Mourinho has always set that tone, wherever he has been. He is setting it now, but in the worst possible way.

Staff at United have always noted that Mourinho rarely smiles. While he was winning — however primitive the football — that was viewed as an unfortunate quirk. Now his demeanour is casting a cloud so dark over Old Trafford that it is following his players down the tunnel on match day.

This United team no longer believe they are good enough. They have spent too long hearing their manager say he needs to spend more, that they miss too many chances, concede bad goals and represent a big club but are not a big team.

Players are professionals and paid to get on with it. But they are humans, too, and some in the United team are young. They listen to what their manager says and players such as Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku and Luke Shaw must wonder when their manager is ever going to sound as though he is actually on their side.

At Old Trafford, they can only hope they are not witnessing Mourinho falling back into familiar habits. When the Portuguese believes he cannot win, he lights fire after fire and then, just as the building is about to collapse, he gets out. He cuts and runs and starts again somewhere else.

Mourinho is not programmed for second place, nor for gradual empire building. He likes to win and win fast.

With Pep Guardiola establishing something so special across town at Manchester City, one wonders if Mourinho has read the writing on the wall and noted that it has been inked there with a sky blue pen.

If United think their manager will plan a way to claw back the lost ground yard by yard, season by season, they may discover they are quite wrong. This is not what he does.

This season Mourinho has been so distracted and irritable that he has forgotten what he is good at. He has forgotten to manage and it is costing his team. The longer it goes on, the more we wonder if he will only revert to what he has always done best when he is working somewhere else.