Man United's Jose Mourinho needs to play attacking football - Samuel Eto'o

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho needs to keep playing attacking football, his former Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o has said.

Eto'o played under Mourinho at Inter when the club won the Treble in 2010 and also worked with him at Chelsea in 2013-14.

Success in Italy was built on a solid defence -- something Mourinho has become strongly associated with -- but this week he praised the "beautiful, attacking football" he feels United are playing.

Eto'o told Telefoot: "Jose has changed a lot, because I got to know someone exceptional when I arrived at Inter.

"At Chelsea, it was a bit more difficult. We saw each other not so long ago in Mexico. He seemed to have changed again. He asked for three years to relaunch Manchester United.

"Today, you have to want to play football, to make your boys play football. You can't defend all the time. Football isn't like that any more.

"If you don't want to play like Barcelona or Manchester City, you're going to have problems."

Discussing his relationship with Mourinho, Eto'o said he had "no problem with Jose."

"I like him a lot," he added. "He has things that no other coach does.

"He can take a security guard, tell them: 'You're the best,' and the person goes to the stadium and has a great game. He's very good at that, talking, but football isn't just that any more."

Arindam is ESPN FC's Manchester United correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @ARejSport.