Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United are in a worse position now than they were under him, but admits he “probably deserved to be sacked” by the club.
The Portuguese coach was sacked last December after high-profile clashes with star players Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, while there was apparent discontent over the club’s failure to sign a defender in the summer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer impressed as interim boss before landing the job full-time – but the Norwegian has overseen a mixed start to the new season.
The Red Devils’ second loss of the campaign against West Ham on Sunday leaves them ten points adrift of leaders Liverpool after only six matches.
On United’s current issues, Mourinho said on Sky Sports: “I’m not the right person to answer it.
“They are far behind. It’s difficult for me to answer. I was there for two seasons where I could feel lots of positive things and I could feel the direction to go in, then obviously the third season was not good enough.
“I was sacked, I probably deserved to be sacked because I was responsible as the manager, but the sad reality is that they are worse than before.
“And for me, that is a sad thing. Maybe people think I’m enjoying the situation but I’m not enjoying it at all.”
Mourinho added: “I have people in the club I love, I have lots of respect for the fans and for me it’s really sad because when a team is ‘boring’, you are boring but you can still get the results.
“But at this moment I don’t see anything. I think they are going to really, really be in trouble to get not just into the top four but potentially in the top six.
“I think this team is worse than the team of last season.”