Garth Crooks has questioned Jose Mourinho’s status as the ‘Special One’ - because he is 'frightened' of playing Romelu Lukaku , Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford together.
Manchester United managed to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City with a 1-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford on Saturday.
United are now five points behind rivals City, who have yet to taste defeat this season, thanks to substitute Martial’s late winner.
But BBC pundit Crooks, writing in his online Team of the Week , is amazed Mourinho has neglected to start the Frenchman as part of a three-pronged attack alongside Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford.
Crooks, who spent a brief loan spell at Old Trafford in 1983, said: “Why playing Rashford, Martial and Lukaku in a three-man attack at Old Trafford should frighten Mourinho is a mystery to me. And he calls himself the 'Special One’.
“With Romelu Lukaku slightly off the pace and Marcus Rashford with a mandate to score within 70 minutes or he's off, it was left to [Antonio] Valencia to marshal his defence well enough not to give Tottenham a sniff of their goal and that's precisely what he did.”
It's not the first time Crooks has taken an apparent swipe at Mourinho this season. After United's 0-0 draw with Liverpool earlier this month, he labelled the Portuguese 'cowardly'.
Crooks, meanwhile, believes his former club Tottenham will struggle against the top sides without star man Harry Kane .
The England striker is sidelined with a hamstrung injury and miss Saturday’s defeat.
And Crooks added: “I would go as far as to say that without Kane, Spurs aren't frightening any of the top four sides, especially away from home.”