Gary Neville believes that "something happened" in the Manchester United dressing room in recent months to mean performances nosedived to cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.
The former United defender added that the remainder of the Premier League season will be a test of the squad's character and will answer questions surrounding where it has gone wrong for United early in the campaign.
Solskjaer was relieved of his duties on Sunday following a string of poor results, with Michael Carrick taking temporary charge for the upcoming matches against Villarreal and Chelsea.
Neville picked apart the poor defending at Watford that cemented the Norwegian's fate as he criticised the back five — David de Gea included — for their roles in the 4-1 defeat on Saturday at Vicarage Road.
Aspects of the performance, especially in the build-up to Josh King's opener, sparked concerns that the Sky Sports pundit says he raised two years ago.
Amid debate over whether to apportion blame to the staff or the players, Neville believes the upcoming months will provide clarity on the current state of affairs on the field and in the dressing room.
He said on the Gary Neville podcast : "There will be those who say it's coaching but we'll see in the coming months, we really will see in this next 12 months whether the players have lost confidence in the manager, [or] whether the idea has run out, I've got a feeling something's happened in the last couple of months in that dressing room, somethings not quite right to me."
The penultimate Champions League group stage clash against Villarreal sees United in a precarious position as they lead the standings but a defeat could see them slip to third.
And Neville says the onus is on the players and the next manager to get the best of the players.
He added: "We'll see in the next couple of weeks there will be a new manager, got an interim in at the moment in Michael Carrick whose got a week ahead of him that he should look forward to — because Michael's a good lad and it won't be on him to win the games against Villarreal and Chelsea.
"I think it has to be on the fact Manchester United have got to appoint an interim manager who has got the experience to the end of the season and who can navigate through these choppy waters."
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