Jose Mourinho Reportedly 'Barely on Speaking Terms' with Manchester United Stars

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is reportedly an "isolated figure" at Old Trafford, where he is "barely on speaking terms with many" of his players, including club captain Antonio Valencia. 

According to the Daily Mail's Chris Wheeler, Mourinho was critical of Valencia and dropped him from the squad to face West Ham United over the weekend after he did not attend United's Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Derby County, and the pair do not speak regularly.

Alexis Sanchez is also said to be "furious and contemplating his future" with United after Mourinho kept him out of the team him for the Hammers clash.

"There are now serious concerns" over the loyalty the coach commands among his first-team players after his fallout with Paul Pogba, who has several allies in the dressing room including Eric Bailly, Anthony Martial and Andreas Pereira.

The manager's comments in his press conference on Monday may do little to improve the situation, per ESPN FC:

However, per Wheeler, Mourinho also added: "I am still the kid that I was 20 years ago and I am still naive, but I still don't believe that a player is not honest."

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News believed he was within his rights to question the attitudes of some of his players:

From a performance point of view, he was justified in dropping Sanchez, too, given the Chilean is still yet to show anything close to what he's capable of since arriving in January.

The 29-year-old bagged 30 goals in his last full season with Arsenal and eight in his final 22 appearances with them. In 23 outings for United, he has found the net on just three occasions.

ESPN FC's Alex Shaw noted his drop-off:

However, while Sanchez may be relatively new to the team, he's also the club's top earner, which puts Mourinho in a difficult position when it comes to leaving him out.

Likewise, his man-management of his other players is a balancing act between keeping them onside and being able to call them out for under-performing if necessary.

All does not appear to be well behind the scenes at Old Trafford and they need a quick turnaround to salvage their season while there's still time.

Mourinho must work to get his players working in harmony, both with himself and each other, and they need to show a response at home to Valencia on Tuesday.