Former Manchester United captain Paul Ince believes his former side have declined since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed permanent manager and that the club should have waited until the end of the season before announcing their next move.
The Red Devils were knocked out the Champions League on Tuesday night, after suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona at the Nou Camp, and have now lost three of their last five games since Solskjaer was named Jose Mourinho's permanent successor back in March.
Ince, who had previously been sceptical of Solskjaer taking over on a permanent basis despite winning 14 of his 19 games in temporary charge, didn't hold back when asked his thoughts on United's current form.
" United look a different team now Ole is permanent manager – I always said this would happen. It's a very, very tough job for Ole to take this team forward," the former England international told Paddy Power .
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"When he was the interim manager they were creating chance after chance, and now he has the job permanently they've gone backwards!
"I always said the pressure would be on if he got it permanently. I said this would happen months ago. This is why I said what I said at the time – I've seen it loads of times that while a manager is interim the mood picks up and everyone feels like they have a chance, but when he becomes the manager, they're worse than they were before.
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"This is what I meant when I said that there was such a cloud over United that all Ole had to do was to come in and change the environment. No pressure on the players, just go out and play. Now, they're in a position where they could get top four, and the stress and pressure is on.
"They've lost their way and how they're playing now is no different to how they played under Jose Mourinho – allowing teams to come at them.
"The board were forced into that decision because he'd done so well, fans and ex-players were clamouring for him to get the job, but I couldn't understand why they were in such a hurry to give him it. If you'd have waited until the end of the season, United would secure top four and then you give him the job."
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