Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United earlier this week after overseeing a poor start to the season.

Former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the man chosen to succeed Mourinho as he looks to salvage something from the season.

And early indications suggest that might have been the right decision.

In United's first match under Solskjaer, United won 5-1 as goals from Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial and a Jesse Lingard brace gave them a comfortable victory.

That is the first time United have scored five goals in a Premier League match since Sir Alex Ferguson's last game in charge all the way back in May 2013.

For many, Mourinho just had to go.

Results had been extremely poor under his management. At the time of his departure they occupied sixth in the Premier League, 19 points behind Liverpool.

It's perhaps surprising that Mourinho was sacked when he was. Reports on Saturday even emerged stating he had no idea he was to be sacked.

Alan Shearer gave his take on the timing of United's decision and he gave an interesting theory.

The former Newcastle striker stated that United sacked him when they did due to the team's upcoming fixtures.

Following the Cardiff game, the Red Devils now have Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle.

And Shearer believes they axed Mourinho and quickly replaced him to give the new manager a chance to get off to a good start.

"It's no coincidence on the timing - especially with the coming fixtures," Shearer said on Match of the Day, per the Daily Express.

"They've got Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle. It gives the new manager a chance to get off to the best possible start."

Watch Shearer reveal his theory from 12:32 below:

Interesting stuff. Shearer could well be on to something there.

Shearer then praised United, saying that they outran their opponents for the first time in the Premier League this season against Cardiff.

"For the first time in a Premier League game this season, United outran their opponents," he said.

"The full-backs were further forward and they played with more freedom. There was more movement going forward, especially from the front three.

"That was the most outstanding thing for me - thinking forward.

"It helps when you score an early goal - that gives a team confidence - but there was so much more from that United team than we've seen in recent weeks.

"There's no doubt about it. Those players had stopped running for the previous manager. They weren't running for him.

"It was the right decision because something had to change. They weren't giving as much as they should have.

"They can't get rid of all the players so they had to get rid of the manager."