Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre fears his former club face an uphill battle to make a Champions League return, as he painted a gloomy picture for Ruben Amorim’s team.

Silvestre was a Champions League winner with Unitedback in 2008 and also won four Premier League titles during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford, but he has warned the club’s supporters that they face a wait to see their team back in Europe’s elite competition.

Speaking exclusively to Football365with Poker Scout, the former France international defender has suggested United boss Ruben Amorim and his team cannot be expected to return to the Champions League next season after a lowly 15th place finish in the Premier League last season.

“The top four for me is not realistic from where they were last season,” said Silvestre. “It’s just too difficult to picture how they will do that because of the lack of consistency.

“We saw it against Everton when they lost 1-0 (at Old Trafford last week). You cannot have this kind of blip in the Premier League and expect to finish in the top four.

“Of course, the other teams around you have to perform and we can see that Liverpool are not having a good time, but I feel the top four is too much for United this season.

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“For me, it would be a big surprise if United are in the Champions League next season and if they are in it, let’s be honest, they will not be there to win it.”

Silvestre believes the United hierarchy has no option other than to back under-pressure manager Amorim as he looks to revive the club’s fortunes, as he suggests the club’s botched attempts to fill the void left by Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 has left a lasting scar.

“The transition for the future wasn’t prepared when Sir Alex left,” he continues. “Everyone in his backroom staff went with him and that was a problem. There was a big gap to be filled and a very difficult one.

“The whole United organisation was built on Sir Alex’s knowledge and everything was based around this personality. So in my view, the club has never recovered from his departure.

“Now it feels like there are some people in place at the club who have been quite successful where they have been before.

“When I was there, it was Sir Alex at the top and everyone around him, but now the club have built an organisation that has different parts and now they have to back Amorim.

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“I think he showed why he didn’t want to come in when he did last year, in the middle of the season, because it was always going to be difficult.

“It was always going to be a case of giving him time and getting players into the squad to play in the system he wants to play, so Amorim needs time and assurances from the club if they want to build a squad that can compete for the title with him.

“You need to back him up as long as possible. You are not going to build something quickly. We have seen that with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. He needs time.”

Every United defeat sparks what has become an all-too-familiar stream of criticism and talk of a crisis developing around Amorim and his team, with Silvestre suggesting the United manager and his players would be shrewd to ignore the criticism.

“It doesn’t help for sure that there is so much negativity out there around United, but it’s hard to block out the noise,” he added.

“The media are everywhere and social media is also very strong now. The players, the staff and everyone in the club are working on trying to improve things and they have to be resilient to ignore the noise when there is pressure.

“If I was a player now, I would block the comments on social media, for sure. Then it is just the traditional media that you need to hear about.

“Otherwise, you will have thousands of messages after a match and if it has not gone well, most of them will be negative. If you start listening to all of this negativity, you will not be able to do your job properly.”