After that abysmal performance against Juventus, fingers were pointed towards the lacklustre Manchester United players – and rightly so. But we cannot ignore that Jose Mourinho’s tactics have been the main source of the Red Devils’ problems this season.
In my match preview for the Juventus game, I was excited that Manchester United were finally playing a top European side in years. But deep down, I knew that the game was not going to be fun at all, as Mourinho was almost certainly going to deploy the most boring, protective style of football United are capable of.
In the end, his tactics didn’t work, and we lost 1-0 on our own turf in a game with very few chances. If I could have given Jose Mourinho a score in my player ratings post, it would have been a 3 – the lowest of the bunch.
Although I’m glad he’s starting to play a consistent front 3 now, his tactics were all wrong. Not making a single substitute when we were trailing 1-0 for almost the entire game? Seriously? And why was Alexis Sanchez left out of the squad yet again, even though he came on to score the winner against Newcastle United last week?
"The boys tried hard, they deserved a different result. A point would have been fair." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/FPTgiXKSb7
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 23, 2018
Furthermore, why are we still playing Romelu Lukaku up front when he can’t seem to control a simple pass? Why play long-ball football when we have bright, energetic young forwards like Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who prefer to have the ball at their feet? It’s just nonsensical!
Now look, I’m not calling for Mourinho to get sacked. Far from it. I’m just saying that fans need to realise that our pattern of lacklustre performances shows that he is no longer the tactical mastermind he once was.
What’s the point of having a defensive manager playing defensive football week in and week out if we’re going to ship tons of goals anyway? Wouldn’t it make more sense to adopt a more offensive approach to games in order to make up for our poor centre-backs? Liverpool have done this to good effect (before they signed a competent defender in the shape of Virgil van Dijk).
Again, I’m not saying that the Portuguese has to go, but he does need to switch up his tactics – fast. We know his teams are capable of playing good football. Look no further than the fast-paced counter-attacking side that was his 2010-2013 Real Madrid team.
Can Mourinho adopt a similar swash-buckling approach at Old Trafford? Well, with pacy forwards like Rashford, Martial and Sanchez, I don’t see why not. It may even be the key to saving his job, so the Portuguese would be unwise not to consider a tactical reshuffle.
Do you agree that we should keep Jose Mourinho as long as he changes up his tactics? Or have the club given him enough chances and should just let him go? Who would you like to replace him? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments below!