It’s only the third week of the season and Manchester United have already lost back to back games. The Red Devils sunk to a 3-0 drubbing at home to Tottenham Hotspur, a team that’s lost more times at Old Trafford than at any other Premier League ground. The defeat not only leaves United in 13th place with an embarrassing -3 goal difference, it heaps a pile of pressure on an out-of-favour José Mourinho. Many say this has been coming while others never expected it, regardless, we’re witnessing one of the biggest downward spirals in footballing history.
Here are three reasons behind Manchester United’s misery.
Poor Recruitment
Manchester United are meant to be the biggest club in the world, both commercially and financially. They’re a team that boasts a worldwide fanbase with an imposing reputation to match. With such stature, United should be able to attract any player in the world. With all the money in the world, there’s no reason United should have such gaping holes in their first team squad. José Mourinho made it evidently clear that he wanted a centre-back in the summer, a target Ed Woodward failed to deliver, leading to more animosity from his Portuguese employee.
But can you blame Ed Woodward? He’s given Mourinho millions to spend over the past two years and he’s not delivered a title-competing team. The same players he lambasts in Victor Lindelöf and Eric Bailly are the same players Mourinho blew £60m on recently, so why would he be trusted with more funds? The message should be clear: coach what you have if you don’t how to spend properly.
Player-Manager relations
Just this year alone, Mourinho has had public spats with Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw. Mourinho hardly protects his players in public, instead, he prefers to throw them under the bus (excuse the pun), while painting himself in glory.
Such public spats don’t bode well for team morale and can only heap more pressure on these under-fire players. You can’t expect players to give their all for you if you don’t even publicly support them. Until Mourinho learns how to publicly protect his players, he can’t expect them to perform for him.
Inconsistent Team Selection
It’s clear as day that José Mourinho doesn’t know his best starting XI. So far in every game of the season, José has played a different starting XI. More specifically, the 55-year-old persists to keep changing his CB pairing in hope that one duo might click. Instead, the Red Devils have conceded 7 goals in 3 games – something unheard of for a José Mourinho team.
In fact, Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham was the biggest Premier League home defeat in José Mourinho’s illustrious career. In attack, José doesn’t know which of Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata suit his style best down the flanks. His inconsistency in selection doesn’t give his team the platform to build any chemistry or more importantly, consistency. Until the 55-year-old finds his best team, stops picking fights with players and buys the right players, Manchester United will continue to look like a former big club.
