A DRAW at home to Everton on Tuesday night left Manchester United’s hopes of securing a top four finish severely damaged.
Despite a Premier League unbeaten streak stretching back to October, the Red Devils have failed to make significant progress thanks to their inability to kill off teams at home.
Football Whispers has taken a look at whether Jose Mourinho knows his best team after eight months in charge at Old Trafford. And could his tinkering be holding United back?
When he took over from Louis van Gaal in June of last year, Mourinho impressed many United fans with his clear idea of what he wanted to do with the team.
Transfer targets were identified and secured long before deadline day, and the former Chelsea boss appeared to be relatively sure of how he was going to set up his side as the new season began.
After lifting the Community Shield at Wembley, seeing off surprise Premier League champions Leicester City 2-1, United won their first three league fixtures in a row.
It seemed as if, after three seasons of under-achievement when David Moyes and van Gaal were at the helm, the 20-time champions were finally back to where they felt they belonged - at the business end of the table and ready to compete for major honours once again.
But a derby defeat to rivals Manchester City, where more media attention was trained on the dugouts to see if Mourinho and Pep Guardiola would resume the hostilities they displayed toward each other in La Liga, set United back a step or two.
Although they have only lost twice in the Premier League since then, Mourinho’s men have remained outside of the top four since those opening weeks of the campaign, and the manager’s public spats with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw have seen several of the players who were expected to shine this term fall out of favour.
Club captain Wayne Rooney found himself as a first-choice starter in the number ten position at the beginning of the season, but his declining performances have seen him relegated to the bench more often than not in recent months.
Few would argue that Rooney is still worthy of regular selection, but Mourinho is yet to identify the man he wants to assume the Three Lions skipper’s role in the side.
Indeed, with 29 League matches played, the Portuguese coach has used 24 different players in the league alone, with 17 of those making 15 or more appearances.
most read in football
Perhaps the strongest evidence to suggest that Mourinho doesn’t yet know his best team is that, in those 29 games, he has only named an unchanged line-up on three occasions.
In addition to the constant switching of personnel, the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss has utilised several different formations.
He started by sending his side out in the 4-2-3-1 shape which won him a third Premier League title with Chelsea two years ago, but changed to 4-3-3 when Michael Carrick was re-introduced to the side in October.
The 4-2-3-1 system is still regularly seen at Old Trafford, particularly in games against inferior opponents when Paul Pogba can be allowed to roam from one of the deep midfield roles without having to worry too much about his defensive duties.
But it seems that Mourinho trusts 4-3-3, and the protection Carrick offers from there, in the bigger games against more threatening sides.
However, United’s shape shifting hasn’t been limited to just two formations. In the 3-0 victory away to Leicester in February, Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were paired up front in a 4-4-2, while, for the first time he has done so with any regularity in his career, Mourinho has used a back three recently.
The constant tinkering has hampered United in their efforts to foster a degree of continuity.
The players seem unaware of exactly what Mourinho wants from them, partly because what he wants keeps changing.
If the Red Devils hope to secure Champions League football for next season, either by a top four finish or by winning the Europa League, Mourinho needs to figure out his best team, and fast.
Leave a comment