Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has slammed the club amid their worst ever Premier League season, insisting they are now "lost completely".
Man Utd are set to post their lowest-ever points tally at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, with a 4-0 defeat at Brighton leaving them in sixth place on 58 points.
The previous lowest mark of 64 was set under David Moyes in 2013-14, which the Red Devils can no longer surpass given they have only one game remaining with interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who will make way for Ajax's Erik ten Hag in the summer.
What has Meulensteen said about Man Utd?
Man Utd are now destined to drop into either the Europa or Conference League and have extended their recent trophy drought to five seasons - a far cry from the success they enjoyed when Meulensteen was sitting in the dugout with Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Dutchman helped the club win three Premier League titles and the Champions League between 2007 and 2013, and has been shocked by how far they have fallen since last season's runners' up finish.
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Meulensteen thought Cristiano Ronaldo's return from Juventus would spark a title challenge, and told talkSPORT: “There were a lot of expectations, even from myself. When Ronaldo comes in, he comes in for one reason only and that’s to improve the team and basically get Man Utd challenging again.
“They were second in the league, so no reason to believe anything else. For some reason there was that lack of consistency at the start of the season and performances started to fall away.
“The season has been derailed more and more. You saw the frustration kick in when they got knocked out of this competition, then they got knocked out of the FA Cup, then they lost ground in the league. They changed managers again and Rangnick came in.
“Rangnick’s impact has not brought what everyone expected, to push for the top four and Champions League is so important. They have been derailed and irritation has turned into frustration.
“When I see Man Utd play, I see a team that is lost. They are lost completely. There is no cohesion, no organisation, no structure, any basic thing that you need in any successful performance is not there.”
Man Utd stars called out for lack of commitment
Rumours of discontent in the United dressing room have been constant in recent months, as has talk of certain players undermining Rangnick while refusing to give their all in training and matches.
Meulensteen says a lack of commitment from star names has played a key role in the squad's poor form as "pride" has gone out of the window at Old Trafford.
“The most important thing is when you do sign for a club is to represent them with pride. We know some players that have come in have never really committed to the club," he added.
“Then you get these rumours fed in through the media that ‘he’s not happy’ and this player or that player wants to go.
“If you’ve got a very solid dressing room and those players in the dressing room want to be there together, they want to do well together and fight for each other.
“If you’ve got people in there who don’t really want to be there then you feel that. You will sense it and it has an effect on the performances.”
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