Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier branded the standard of performances at his old club as "not good enough".
This week, Saints - currently second from bottom of the Premier League - were linked with a move for Paulo Sousa as a potential replacement for current boss Mark Hughes and the pressure is clearly on the former Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers boss.
On Saturday, United play Southampton and Le Tissier was asked on Soccer Saturday to react to comments from the club's owners saying "things were fine."
"No ... no," he replied glumly. "It's not been anywhere near the standard Sotuhampton fans have been used to.
"The standards were very high with finishing in the top eight for four years in a row. The standard of performance was good, the standards were good ... but this season it hasn't. Yes, there have bee ntimes when we have probably deserved more out of football matches such as the Newcastle game. But it's not good enough.
The club's owners said the club has to sell players before it can bring in any new recruits in January.
"It's a bit concerning," admitted Le Tissier. "We weren't really in that position before. We had owners who - if need be - the money was made available but there are players there that they need to get rid of who they paid good money for such as those out on loan."
Saints have won just once this season and worryingly have scored only 10 goals.
