Former Manchester United defender Phil Jones says the club’s followers may have to “swallow our pride a little bit” as they rebuild on the pitch.
United are looking to secure the services of Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim after sacking Erik ten Hag as manager.
On the latest episode of Planet Premier League, Jones said: “We’ve lost so much identity over the years and it’s been a process of slowly but surely we’re just getting further away from where we need to be.
“I look at the people in and around the training ground on a day to day and those people who are no longer at the club… people will say ‘what does that have to do with on the pitch?’ Well that has everything to do with what goes on the pitch there. They’re the bread and butter of the football club. They know the football club inside and out. They know how it works, they know how it’s run.
“I think you’ve got to go back to basics. We all want fast attacking, flowing football, loads of chances created, loads of excitement in the stadium, but unfortunately, I think we’re going to have to strip it all the way, right the way back and say we’re going to be really solid, we’re going to be really compact and really connected and hard to play against and hard to beat and be horrible to play against.
“I think we almost have to swallow our pride a little bit here. I know the way we want to play and the way that United fans expect us to play, but maybe we’re going to have to play a certain way to build the confidence back up and bring confidence back into the team.”
Listen to Planet Premier League on BBC Sounds
