Manchester United’s preseason tour took a turn for the worst on Saturday evening as they were defeated 4-1 by rivals, Liverpool. The stark difference between the two sides highlighted a lack of belief from the Red Devils.
Manchester United were on the backfoot straight away as Liverpool dominated the early stages. Within the first ten minutes of the match, Jose Mourinho’s men were making last-ditch tackles to prevent their opponents from taking the lead.
That desperation costed them in the end. Young Demetri Mitchell trying to leather the ball out of play not knowing Mo Salah was behind him ready to nick the ball before going over. Sadio Mane stepped up to stroke the ball home past Lee Grant.
Despite this lifeline, Jose Mourinho’s men never upped the gears. They remained behind the ball, allowing Liverpool to be on the front foot and attack them.
This continued in the second half as United’s performance weakened. They threatened Liverpool’s goal once as Pereira made a sharp interception to play through Alexis Sanchez, whose shot was deflected wide.
The damage had already been done by that point, however, as Liverpool had made it 3-1 through Daniel Sturridge and Sheyi Ojo. Shaquiri added a fourth after Sanchez’ miss to inflict further damage to the wound.
Why Manchester United are lacking belief
Jose Mourinho’s comments over the last couple of weeks have given Manchester United fans no reason for optimism ahead of the new season. Nor have they filled the youngsters on tour with him with any sort of confidence.
After the defeat on Saturday night, Mourinho expressed that he would not pay money to watch his own team play. Considering he has been given funds to build a squad in every of his three summer transfer windows, and he has yet to create a team that play football that is worthy of a crowd.
Degrading the qualities of your players you will need to call on throughout this season even before it’s started, not a good move.
The Portuguese-man further dismissed the rest of his squad which is compromised of a lot of youth team graduates.
"“This is not my squad, half of my squad are missing and half of the players out there today (vs Liverpool) will not be at the club after August 9. This is not even 30 percent of my squad.” [Telegraph]"
Comments about Manchester United’s young reds, who no doubt have a bright future in the game, will only detach him further away from the Old Trafford faithful. To disregard them and say that they will not be in his squad, is demoralising.
On the same day, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made these comments about the young players he has been working with on their preseason tour:
"“You cannot imagine how I enjoyed these 10 days with these guys. The young players have desire, they are starving to become football players. They are hungry, work with them and you say something and they open their eyes and listen to you because they want to make a career. They are 17, 18, 19 years old. We played with just one or two pros in the first team and we did what we have done in spite of the results. It was so happy for me with the way they played.” [Express]"
The difference between these two coaches is stark and clear to see. Perhaps the answer to why Manchester United are not showing any belief that they can challenge their noisy neighbours is a little less obvious. But a man who is playing a major hand, Jose Mourinho.