It’s as dysfunctional as ever at Manchester United right now as the Red Devils were blown out at West Ham United today 3-1. Many are speculating that this could be the beginning of the end for manager Jose Mourinho, but that remains to be seen as the Portugese received a public vote of confidence from Executive Ed Woodward just this week.
What we do know for sure is that the results on the pitch have been awful, and far below the level of what’s acceptable at Old Trafford. Their seven game start is now just as poor as it was under David Moyes in 2013-14.
After the match, Mourinho was asked why he dropped struggling winger Alexis Sanchez, the team’s highest paid player, from the squad entirely. Mourinho’s only answer was his claim of giving in to popular pressure to play Anthony Martial.
Then after the game, Mourinho slammed the effort and showing from Martial.
“I want to play Martial, something that you [the media] are asking for a long, long, long time,” Mourinho said to his post match news conference.
“I left Alexis out and I think Martial is not a player very, very focused on his defensive duties. I thought to play him as a second striker would be easier for him and at the same time I feel we need quality on ball in the building up from the back and Scott McTominay has that quality with the ball.”
Speaking of McTominay, he played at centre half, instead of midfield and that puzzled most people who watched the game. Also puzzling was the fact that Mourinho somehow put a starting XI out that included McTominay, Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Fred. Questionable tactics to be sure, but at the end of the day, for this team to be where they currently are in the table, given all the money that’s been spent, is just completely unacceptable.
These are very trying times at United right now, and there are a ton of issues that need to be resolved. Paul Pogba played miserable and at times just looked disinterested. Thus he was subbed off early. It’s clear that there are major issues between him and Mourinho, despite what the manager says.
The main question going forward is this of course: is Mourinho really the guy to figure this out, and will he be given a chance to?
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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