Lack of Fluidity Results in Concerning Start to United's Season
Three defeats in a row, in the same season, for Jose Mourinho for the first time in 14 years; three defeats for Manchester United for the first time since last December, which says a lot about their struggles since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. Just as tellingly, two of the three defeats Mourinho suffered while manager of Porto were to Real Madrid, a run of poor form that feels far less significant than adding Feyenoord and Watford to the reverse against Manchester City.
It’s early, of course, and in normal circumstances, the past week’s results wouldn’t set too many alarm bells ringing. But already United are six points behind City, where Pep Guardiola is making the new manager’s traditional appeal for time look self-serving. He has turned up and imposed his philosophy already: he seems to have done in three weeks what Louis van Gaal suggested would take three years to achieve. Already the classic Guardiola traits are there: 61% possession, more than 4% more than any other side in the league; 19 tackles per game, more than any other side in the top seven bar Everton; 15 goals scored, three more than anybody else, not to mention the three games won in the Champions League by an aggregate of 10-0.
United, by contrast, have looked clunky, a series of parts that still haven’t meshed. The win over Southampton was comfortable enough, but even against Bournemouth and Hull there was a lack of fluency: United were essentially gifted the opener at the Vitality Stadium after a far from dominant opening, and were frustrated for most of the game against Hull. Perhaps the most alarming statistic, particularly for those who subscribe to the theory that the vast majority of managers have, at most, a decade at the very highest level, is that Mourinho has now lost 14 of his last 32 games.
His decision to castigate a number of players in public after the derby defeat seemed risky at the time; the two defeats since suggest that his criticism did not shock his players into form and there is a real danger that morale has been seriously undermined. But those are internal issues the truth and efficacy of which will only emerge in time. As to the specifics, what’s going wrong?
United lie seventh in the Premier League table, which is about right for all the major indicators of form. They’ve had the sixth most shots per game (16.2) and the seventh most shots on target (5.2). They’ve conceded the eighth-fewest shots per game (11.6). It’s very early days, of course, but that suggests this is not a freak. They are where they ought to be - and in terms of fixtures their start hasn’t been especially taxing: a promoted side plus the teams who finished fourth, sixth, thirteenth and sixteenth last season.
Slightly surprisingly, given the reputation of Mourinho sides, they’ve only had the thirteenth most tackles per game (17.8) and the eighth most interceptions (15.8), which hints at issues in terms of regaining possession, which in turn suggests issues at the back of midfield. That’s not entirely surprising: Marouane Fellaini and Paul Pogba do not look the most natural pairing in that role and pushing Wayne Rooney back to join them on Sunday didn’t help.
In fact, using Pogba there seems a strange use of his talents. This is a player who last season, playing on the left of a midfield three and given license to get forward, scored eight goals and set up 12 while making 2.2 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game. He was a complete midfielder. This season, while acknowledging the small sample size, he’s making 2 tackles per game and 1.8 interceptions and hasn’t managed a goal or an assist. His shots per game from within 18 yards have dropped from 1.2 per game to 0.8, while his key passes are also down 33%.
Perhaps he will simply take time to settle, but there seems a wider issue in terms of his interaction with Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of him. There’s a general lack of pace and fluidity, something that City’s excellence has only emphasised. It’s too early to speak of crisis for United, but this has been a worrying start.
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