Edwin van der Sar reckons Manchester United lack the 'strong characters' to arrest their slide.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been left fighting for his job after a disastrous start to the season at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils languish down in 12th, just two points above the drop zone after just two wins from their opening eight Premier League games.
United brought in prospects like Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James in the summer but Van der Sar, who made more than 250 appearances for the club, believes they are missing leaders.
He told ESPN : "I think for ourselves, when I came in the dressing room we had Ryan Giggs, you had [Paul] Scholes, you had [Rio] Ferdinand, [Gary] Neville and even Roy Keane at that time.
"I think there’s always been strong characters. And I think for the last couple of years the strong characters have disappeared and [are] not making a difference anymore."
United splashed the cash in the summer but failed to bring in a top-class striker to replace Romelu Lukaku.
Van der Sar added: "Of course, the name [of Manchester United] is there. And of course the following they have all over the world.
"But for a player…you want to play at a certain level, you also want to have an idea that you can win trophies and they must take that opportunity also to improve the squad and make the world-class players they have, or the players that they’re going to sign, that they feel welcome and that there’s a good path to where they’re going to go to."
