Until a week ago, everything was going rather well for Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
Prior to the City defeat, the Red Devils were unbeaten, but of course, that was to be the start of three losses on the bounce.
On Sunday, Watford beat them for the first time in 30 years, which is a rather appropriate statistic, as this is as worried as club officials will have been for about that long.
United have got used to limiting their expectations after three years of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. However, appointing Jose Mourinho was supposed to change all that. The club are not yet in crisis mode, but they’re not far off.
Half a dozen games is usually enough to give a reasonable indication of how the season’s going to go, and United won’t be pleased with what they see. So, what is actually wrong?
Mourinho wants attacking football. That’s the first problem given that he has had to inherit Van Gaal’s team. The full-backs are getting forward, but they’re not working enough on tracking back and actually making tackles, as epitomised by Luke Shaw’s backing off for the second Watford goal.
Secondly, their big money signings aren’t performing. Paul Pogba has been anonymous, Eric Bailly has been decent but a little erratic as he doesn’t know who his centre-back partner is. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be world-class, but he’s being played out of position to accommodate Rooney.
Their biggest problem has just been mentioned. Rooney didn’t make one tackle against Watford, and he’s now supposed to be a midfielder. The England captain stifles attacking play, and he’s performing so badly – without being dropped – that rumours are surfacing that Mourinho has to play him because it’s in his contract.
While United’s biggest stars fail to perform, Marcus Rashford continues to shine. That’s the major plus, but their formation doesn’t actually have a place for him. It’s amazing that he’s forced his way into the starting line-up, but United could really do with playing Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic together. 4-4-2 is dismissed as old-fashioned nowadays, but something along those lines could work.
Finally, the Marouane Fellaini conundrum continues to be a massive issue. Playing Fellaini at all is questionable, even if he’s big and physical. Alongside Pogba, though, someone like Carrick who controls the midfield, rather than just giving the ball away, would be beneficial. Even Bastian Schweinsteiger would probably contribute more, but of course, he’s fallen out with Mourinho.
The issues at Old Trafford right now seem endless, but it’s whether Mourinho is too stubborn to address them that will ultimately decide how United’s season goes.
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