Former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson has given Jose Mourinho a few words of advice off the back of 3 straight defeats for the Portuguese.

The 77-year-old has advised Mourinho to have Ander Herrera in his starting lineup, saying that the Spaniard is massively underrated and that he has sometimes carried the team with his solo performances.

The midfielder has struggled to cement his place in the first team in the 3 seasons he has now spent at the club, despite the fact that he rarely makes a poor performance and loves a goal or two.

Herrera has faced stiff competition in midfield, with the likes of Schneiderlin, Carrick, Fellaini and Schweinstieger to compete with – as well as Paul Pogba who returned to Old Trafford from Juventus for a world record fee of £89m.

United have fallen short against Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford in the space of a week, and now face a trip to Northampton where it is expected that many younger players might be given a chance to shine – maybe perhaps highly rated holding midfielder Timothy Fosu-Mensah. However, Atkinson believes that Herrera’s attitude warrants him to start every match for the Red Devils.

“I think he’s the one who sometimes – not only this year, last year or the year before – he carries the can a little bit. He’d be one of my first choices,” Atkinson told talkSPORT.

“[He has] great energy, [a] great attitude, [he] competes. He came on in the [Manchester] City derby when they were completely outclassed in the first half and was a big factor in the way the game changed. He won a lot of balls; he got around people’s feet, busied people.”

“It’s ever so easy picking someone else’s team, but he’d be one of my starting players – I’d play him quite a lot.”

Atkinson also gave his view on Wayne Rooney. The captain’s displays this season has been heavily criticised by large amounts of fans and pundits, but Atkinson say that the no.10 should play higher up the pitch in order to get the best out of him.

“I think Rooney can play anywhere. He’s not at the top of the range at the moment, but the commodity he’s got – and it’s the hardest thing in football – he can score a goal,” he explained.

“I would have him playing somewhere within range of the opposition goal as much as possible. He can drop out, he spent a long time there last year playing as the central midfield player spraying the ball about – he can do that.”

“I think in a year or two’s time – if he wanted to – he could play centre-half. He’s a football player.”

“But at the moment, they’ve got to get him back to the form where he can score goals. He’s England’s leading scorer, he will break United’s record, but you don’t want players like that 50-yards from the opposition’s goal.”