Manchester United started this season with intent. Admit it. When they signed arguably the worlds best manager and spent that widely talked about world record €105 million fee for Paul Pogba, every football fanatic out there assumed united would be a force this season. They did what Moyes and Van Gaal failed to do and signed well known superstars with Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan. The formula seemed perfect - united looked to be back. But it just has not been the case.
After a mere 11 games Manchester United find themselves in 6th place in the league - a situation that united fans have become familiar with in recent years since the trophy riddled fergie era.
In October alone they managed to score only a single goal. They have lost more league games than any of their closest rivals and have only won one out of their last five league fixtures. Jose Mourinho, famous for his defensive tactical approach, has a defence that leaks goals and an attack that can't score. Unless something drastically changes then united seem destined to remain as the mediocre club they are playing like.
Morinho's fall from grace
The current united trend screams of similarities to Mourinho's title defending Chelsea side of last year. After winning the league in 2015, his side finished 12th. Mourinho didn't even last the year. Is he following the same trend now in his Manchester role?
It's possible. One thing Mourinho was renowned for was his incredible ability to deflect media pressure away from his players. He did it at Chelsea, Real Madrid and even Inter. When his team didn't perform, he took the pressure off them. He handled the media. He made the press focus on anything but his underachieving players.
But in his final months at Chelsea, mourinho failed to do this. He looked defeated. Betrayed by his players. Has he brought this attitude with him to Manchester?
Mourinho has criticised his Manchester United players publicly throughout the season, even doing so following a victory on Sunday against Swansea. He targeted his defenders Smaling and Shaw following their last minute withdrawal from the lineup.
'There is a difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost, and the ones for who a little pain can make a difference. If I were to speak with thegreat football people of this team, they will say many times they played without being 100 per cent. For the team you have to do anything. That is my way of seeing.'
Following their Manchester derby day loss in the beginning of the season, mourinho claimed that Mkhitaryan essentially failed him:
"I had two or three players in the first half who, if I knew what I know now, I don't play them. They didn't give me what I want."
After last weeks loss to Fernebace in the Europa League, the Portuguese claimed his side were"not ready, mentally prepared [or] focused".
Never before have we heard of a Mourinho side being not mentally ready to compete. What have Manchester United been doing in training in the build up to this game? It is the duty and role of the coach to prepare his players to walk onto that pitch we all love. If anyone ever suggested that a team had lost focus or weren't mentally prepared you would say the manager has lost the dressing room. Has Mourinho lost the dressing room? Not yet. But he is playing with time. The players are not in synch with him. It's only a matter of time before they turn on him the way the players did at Chelsea. The Manchester United fans won't tolerate this slump much longer. They have had to endure three trophyless years and their patience is wearing thin. Mourinho must find a solution to this poor run of form or face another bitter end to his reign of a premiership side.
