Did Manchester United find the right balance in their front three against Young Boys?

Manchester United managed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages after defeating BSC Young Boys last night 1-0. Jose Mourinho selected a young and pacey front three and I examine whether they did enough to convince the manager they are the right combination.

Not many Manchester United pundits were able to guess the lineup Jose Mourinho was going to select against Young Boys. In his press conference leading up to the game, it seemed as though he had suggested Eric Bailly would come into the starting XI, however, Phil Jones returned to the defence to partner Chris Smalling.

The team who played against Crystal Palace on Saturday, trained away from the rest of the group on Monday too, perhaps we would see wholesale changes. But this wasn’t the case either.

Five of the players who started against the Eagles four days ago lined up in the tunnel for the match last night.

Of that eleven ready to grace the Old Trafford turf for another night of Champions League football, was a front three of Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

A quick assessment of last night’s match

Watching the match on BT Sport, it was intriguing to hear the different interpretations of the match from Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and host, emphasis on the word host, Gary Lineker.

Fast forward another 45 and their assessments couldn’t be more opposite. And no matter how poor the second half display was, to critique the overall performance in such a manner seemed to be purely revved by their agenda to oust Mourinho.

I was very impressed by the first half display. Perhaps more to do with the fact I had just finished watching my home team Cambridge United deliver the worst performance of the season away to Crewe Alexandra in the depths of League 2. Anything would have looked good after that, but honestly, I thought it was a riveting half.

Fans have been calling for exciting football, the first half was as “end to end” as it has been for some time. Again, probably telling you more about the drab performances we have seen under Mourinho at Old Trafford of late.

And this all stemmed from the movement, pace and dynamism of the front three.

The front three put in a performance they can be pleased with

So use to seeing the turgid movements of Romelu Lukaku up top, Marcus Rashford provided United’s attack with a massive boost of energy.

He and Lingard were making runs in behind the Young Boys defence as well as offering themselves short for the give-and-go.

Anthony Martial hung out on the left-hand side as his partnership with Luke Shaw renewed – the Englishman missed Saturday’s visit of Palace. And despite not being successful with a number of his take-ons, Martial was a constant threat for Young Boys right-back Kevin Mbabu.

Yes, Rashford missed a number of chances, but just seeing the threat he caused was something similar of years gone by. The pace on the counter, the trickery and the deft touch reminding me of Cristiano Ronaldo during his days at the Theatre of Dreams. Unfortunately for Rashford though, he does not yet have the ruthlessness the great number seven possessed.

Have they convinced manager Jose Mourinho?

The most important question I guess. And the short answer is, no. But it would be unfair to leave it at that.

But I’m not sure Jose will focus on that too much. If you listened to his post-match interview, when asked whether he was happy with Rashford’ performance, it was clear Mourinho is focussed purely on goals.

"“Overall on Marcus Rashford, are you happy with the movement, the way he created chances, everything but a goal would you say?” asked Darrell Currie.Mourinho replied, “But the most important thing is the goal, goals win matches.” [BT Sport]"

Therefore, I don’t think that Lingard, Rashford and Martial convinced Mourinho entirely that they can win games consistently, however, he will be aware of the quality, skill, pace and threat they carry as a threesome. It may be needed in weeks to come.