Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been told to build his Manchester United team around five of his current players.
The Norwegian remains under intense scrutiny after an indifferent season so far which has seen them win only nine of their 25 Premier League fixtures so far.
They sit eighth in the Premier League but are just six points off the top four and a return to Europe's top table next term.
Former Old Trafford coach Steve McClaren, who served as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant, says the current setup lacks the required 'leaders', but does think there is a group of stars to build the team around.
"The first job is to get them characters of leadership, or people who can become leaders, back in at Old Trafford, back on that training ground," he told Sky Sports.
"Because the inconsistency in performance is an inconsistency of training day to day, Monday to Friday, where you need leaders continuously, continuously setting standards.
"When I look at that back four, [David] De Gea, [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka was a tremendous signing, [Victor] Lindelof getting better, [Harry] Maguire perfect, [Luke] Shaw, and the young boy [Brandon] Williams behind him is also a very, very good player.
"So the back five are nice and solid and strong. What a base that is. You start from that, a great base."
McClaren identified the forward area as United's biggest problem, especially since the injury to top scorer Marcus Rashford.
"This is where they’ve been struggled [in midfield and attack]," he added. "Fred is getting better, more confident, but he likes to roam around.
"None of their players likes to sit in there [in front of the defence]. [Bruno] Fernandes has a key role.
"Where it looks wrong for me is further forward. [Anthony] Martial is not a number nine, he’s not a striker. He cannot play down the middle on his own."
