Following Jose Mourinho's outburst aimed at his players for their lack of passion against Huddersfield on Saturday, Jonathan Liew has insisted it is his job to motivate his side.
Liew, chief sports writer at the 'Independent', was perplexed by the United manager's comments after the shock loss, which took aim at Ander Herrera, and said it is Mourinho's duty to fire up his players before a game.
He told 'Sky Sports': "There's nothing really untoward about [Herrera's comments], but for Mourinho then to blame his players for not being motivated, what exactly is his job as a manager if it is not to motivate his players? It's kind of like a fireman blaming fire.
"The other thing to say is that all of this is a convenient distraction from one of the real issues of this United side, that they are not that good at chasing games.
"It's been almost a year since they won a Premier League game from a losing position. In that second half they were actually tactically quite short of ideas. I think the idea that they weren't up for it is a convenient smokescreen for what is an underlying issue."
United will be hoping to bounce back from the lacklustre display when they travel to Swansea for their Round of 16 Carabao Cup clash on Tuesday.