Editor's Blog
This season was always set up to be a disaster for Manchester United, wasn't it? Sure, only three games have passed and it would be silly to exaggerate the emotional distress, the suffering, the mental strain that many of the club's supporters, including myself, are currently experiencing, but Jose Mourinho's third-season syndrome looks to be in full swing and he has only himself to blame. You often hear Mourinho being discredited for his tendency to achieve only short-term success at whichever football club he's at. He won trophies in his two years at Porto, in his first spell at Chelsea, in his two years at Inter Milan, in his three years at Real Madrid, and when he returned for a second spell in London. And he's also achieved silverware since his arrival at United. In my opinion, the fact that he can go to almost any club in the world and win trophies is to be admired, but at what cost? It's much like a night out during the week. You're excited at first, you enjoy a few moments, but you cannot stop thinking about the inevitability of the next morning, the aftermath. The 2018/19 Premier League season for United began with an unconvincing 2-1 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford, following an almost tumultuous pre-season of the United States of America. The football played against the Foxes was drab and uninspiring, but goals from Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw guaranteed the team three points. Then came Brighton Hove Albion. Arguably the worst performance from the Red Devils since Mourinho was announced as boss. Schoolboy errors from defenders proved that the 55-year-old was right to want to bring in another centre-back in the latest transfer window, but more glaring than the centre-back issue at Brighton was the blasé body language of the players. Trailing 3-1 at half-time, United managed just one shot on target from open play in the second 45 minutes at the Falmer Stadium. The players were despondent. They were not playing for the boss, something we saw plenty of in Mourinho's final season in his second spell at Chelsea before he was fired. United then lost 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night – Mourinho's worst-ever home defeat in his career. The first half performance was surprisingly bright from United, despite the manager picking four central midfielders from the start. Again, however, there was no response after going down. And, yes, you saw correctly, Mourinho did bring on Marouane Fellaini instead of Marcus Rashford in the 61st minute when the team needed goals. Get in there, son. Where are these problems stemming from? Why was Mourinho only allowed three signings in this recent window? For me, it's simple: the board don't trust him enough to splash big money on players he might not be managing come the end of the season, or even come the turn of the year. Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who handles the club's transfer dealings, denied Mourinho the chance to buy Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld for £65 million (R1.1 billion), only securing the signatures of a 19-year-old right back, a 35-year-old third-choice goalkeeper and midfielder Fred. While it's been speculated that those running the club are only in it for the monetary gain, they were more than happy to spend big last season and the season before that. It was Mourinho who signed Eric Bailly. It was he who signed Victor Lindelof. It was he who signed Alexis Sanchez. It was he who signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The board will also be aware that the manager is not seeing eye-to-eye with a number of players in the dressing room at the moment, namely Pogba and Anthony Martial, two players adored by supporters. Again, there are striking similarities to the manager's final campaign at the Blues, when he fell out with Diego Costa and Eden Hazard. At Los Blancos, it was club legend Iker Casillas he took issue with. Notice a trend? Worst of all, though, is the pragmatic, defensive and pedestrian football the team plays under Mourinho. The ball moves around slowly and aimlessly. There is hardly a plan. In fact, United look more comfortable without possession than with it, and that is exactly why Mourinho's record against the top six in the previous campaign was healthy. But when it comes to the games that the Red Devils should dominate in, the team falls apart. The players are positioned too far from one another, unable to build while moving towards the goal. If you want to know why Manchester City are so domineering, it's because there is always three men available to the player with the ball, and when they don't have it, they're relentlessly pressing until the opponent gives them the ball back. Sure, it is because of the 'Special One' that United were able to sign some big-name stars over the past two years, and last season he did guide the team to its best finish since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, but again I ask, at what cost? Mourinho recently claimed to always put the club first… well, it's time he did that. Cheers, Kurt Buckerfield
