Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend Sammy McIlroy says the club needs strong leaders and characters to dig them out of their current crisis.
United boss Erik ten Hag remains under intense pressure with his side in 14th position in the Premier League.
Saturday’s game against Brentford at Old Trafford is a high stakes contest after the home side went five games without a win.
Former midfielder McIlroy scored 71 goals in 419 appearances for United over 11 years after joining in 1971, with the 1982 World Cup hero feeling the modern game is lacking leaders and warriors who are up for a scrap.
“We look at the squad now and everyone is looking for leaders,” argued McIlroy. “They’re looking for a Roy Keane, a Bryan Robson or someone like a Paddy Crerand or a Nobby Stiles to lead, players like that who would let people know if they weren’t playing well.
“Unfortunately, those days have gone now! I look around every top team now in the Premier League, and it’s not just Manchester United, and I seriously struggle for leaders and real characters.
“There’s no characters now in the modern game or leaders. You can’t even try for a comparison.
“Going back to my day when we played against Liverpool, you’d come up against a Tommy Smith and even further on you’d have the likes of Ron Yeats.
“Every team had a hard man, every team had a leader or two leaders who rolled their sleeves up and got people playing.
“We haven’t got those characters at Manchester United, but it’s throughout the Premier League. I don’t think we’ve got them anywhere amongst the top teams.”
Keane’s tunnel bust-up with Patrick Vieira at Highbury in 2005 was among the most iconic moments in Premier League history but McIlroy feels the current game is lacking that passion.
Gary Neville also refused to shake his brother Phil’s hand in the tunnel when he switched to Everton, as well as keeper Peter Schmeichel following his shock move to derby rivals Manchester City.
“You don’t see that now, it’s such a shame,” added McIlroy, who was speaking to sportsboom.com. “That’s what fans want to see.
“Television wants that as well, you want to see a little bit of aggravation and a little bit of spice.
“In my day, we had players coming through the back of you and saying to you after ‘get up, don’t be soft’. You don’t see those characters like that anymore.
“Don’t get me wrong, the standard of football in the Premier League is excellent, the quality is there. There’s some fantastic footballers in the Premier League.
“I’m not knocking their ability; I’m just pointing out that the passion side of the game is nowhere near to what it was going back to my day.
“Whether it was the top teams or the bottom teams, even the bottom teams had characters and leaders who gave you a battle and you’d know you were in a game.
“I don’t see that at all, I just don’t see any leaders in the Premier League at the minute.”
After the Brentford game, United travel to Istanbul for a Europa League meeting with Fenerbahce, currently managed by former United boss Jose Mourinho, before a League trip to West Ham.
“We’ve got a lot of foreign players in our team now,” McIlroy told SportsBoom.com.
“Where they’ve been before, I doubt they’ve experienced the pressure of playing for a club like Manchester United.
“Obviously, these foreign players we’ve brought in have come from decent clubs. You look at the players from Ajax, the pressure of playing in Holland for that club must be huge, but it’s nothing like playing for Manchester United.
“The pressure of playing for some of these European clubs is nowhere near like the pressure they’ll experience of playing for Manchester United.”
“This club has to be challenging for the Premier League and the Champions League, it’s as simple as that. That’s what the supporters demand.”