True, and his reluctance to apply systematic pressing (by systematic i mean the players hunting for the ball in packs, not just closing down the first attacker in order to help the defensive transition) or at least show aggression to steal balls in the defensive half so that the chances of creating a chance through a counter-attack become more and better is one of the things that make him look like he's lost his mojo. It has indeed become a regularity for transition teams nowadays to a point where a manager like Klopp, whose sides offer very little apart from his famous gegenpress, can get reputed jobs and do relatively well. It's also in these deeper positions he leaves "unprotected" where Guardiola finds good creativity and beats him almost every time.
But the chances are that Mourinho won't change what he probably considers to be one of his basic principles. So, the real question is what can he do? I think we've reached the point where he's started to understand that more players need to be involved in the attacking plays. It's one thing to have a forward harassing the CBs and creating spaces in between the lines plus a world-class player who can dribble, pass and shoot and a magnificent play-maker and say "this is all i need to win the league" when these players are readymade and tried solutions like Costa, Hazard and Fabregas. Not just potential but the real thing right here and right now. And the real thing not only technically but also mentally.
When we started the season the attacking patterns seemed to be typical of Mourinho. Utilize Pogba to transition the ball smoothly out from the back and then have Mkhitaryan playing centrally and trying to connect the midfield with the attack. When the counter-attack was unsuccessful the plan was to overload one of the sides. We often use(d) the right flank to do that with Valencia hugging the touchline in order to provide width, Mata cutting inside to work the spaces between the lines and try to link up with Lukaku, Pogba trying to spot passes from a bit deeper. If that didn't work (and most of the times it didn't) we used Mkhitaryan as a conduit in order to safely switch sides where one of Rashford and Martial was waiting for the ball in order to go 1v1 with the left back staying initially a bit deeper to provide support to one of the youngsters.
It could have been enough but in our case, it wasn't. Miki/Mata perform below par thus far and Pogba got injured. Lindelof, who was a bought to be our ball playing CB, needing time to adjust didn't help the cause either. With no ball-playing CB (Bailly has missed many games too), Pogba out for so long and Mkhitaryan underperforming the transitions soon became dire. And Mourinho depends a lot on his transitions in order to create chances. Because when these transitions are fine-tuned he feels most confident. When they don't, his "safety first" approach prevails. I believe that the only thing that kept Mkhitaryan on the pitch for so long is that he was always willing to close down the first attacker whenever we lost possession high up the pitch. That's basically the only thing he's improved in his game since last season. The logic that "if i keep things tight in the middle of the park with Matic-Herera-Miki" the one goal will come.
And here we reach the point when (some of) this forum started "fuming" against him. In order to stay compact and grind out wins week after week you need your "go to" men able to carry the team on their shoulders. United still lack in this department. There's potential there, of course, but Lukaku isn't yet the poacher who will get the job done even when the service is limited, Martial/Rashford are still going through lots of ups and downs, Pogba still needs to adapt to his role as a leader and Miki/Mata offer little in terms of end product. And all of them need to mature collectively.
The latter is not on Mourinho. There are some things you can teach and some things that the players have to work out for themselves. When you see players unable to perform even the most basic of tasks, there's usually more than meets the eye. For example, yesterday we defended deep because we were tactically set to do so. But whenever we got the ball back all our players did was hoof it back to the Brighton players although there were better options, there were teammates of theirs attacking the spaces and making themselves available for a pass. This is simply unacceptable at this level.
And it's not the first time we've seen it. One thing Mourinho's still really good at is nullifying most of the advantages the opposition can have on the pitch and at the same time surgically instructing his players how to attack a particular weakness of the opponent. We saw it against Spurs, he had targeted the space behind Aurier. And although we were trying frantically to get the ball towards that area, the players for once insisted on performing the task. And they were rewarded in the end. But most of the times we seem to lose our calm when the opponent turns on the pressure a bit. In that infamous game at Anfield we actually started the game well with Valencia getting three or four times behind Moreno and putting good crosses in the box. But after Liverpool's first good spell in the game, the players went hiding in their shells. I don't think that's something you can teach to a player.
Now, we're seeing both Martial and Rashford trying to operate in the half-spaces with Pogba having more play-making duties and both FBs pushing forward. Let's see how this will pan out and how Mourinho will approach the next three games.
Long read but worth the read. There is no denying that José is primarily a defensive coach, prioritising not conceding goal over creating opportunities. That's is his prerogative, and seeing that it has served him in the past, fair play to him.
Imo, his focus on defensive organisation and stifling the opposition is so high that he solely relies on individual brilliance in the attacking department. Which is why if one key player is out, the whole team is a right mess as far as attacking is concerned. It may have worked in the past but even the so called minnows are becoming more savvy in defence and in attack as well.
Under José, there is no balance. It's so tipped towards the defensive extreme that players are so poor in transition and there is no cohesion, nor tactical nous or discipline in attack. I doubt we even spend enough time doing attack in training, as testified by former players in Madrid and Chelsea.
The only way we have any sort of joy in attack is when Pogba is at the helm of things. And because of the lack of attacking directions, Pogba MUST be carefree which is why it seems like he can be annoyingly Ill-disciplined at times. He is the only player, I believe, that José trusts to have a defensive presence first and still be able to influence the attacking sides of things. Any other attacking player that wants to be given this licence must first be super adept at the defensive side of his responsibility. This is why the likes of Rashford would forever be trusted over Martial.
We just have to accept that José will not change his ways and this my gripe with him . And to be somewhat fair, I played and coached football to a degree to know that it is very hard work and demands a crazy level of obsession to the tactically adept at attacking football and still sound defensively. Actually, the former is more mentally demanding. Which is why you hear that the likes of Jardim, Poch, Sarri, Pep and even the upcoming Marco Silva border on the psychotic when it comes to details. They are what many people like to refer is students of the game. People that make attackers focus primarily on attack, and defenders focus primarily on defence. It must mentally exhausting to asks players like Martial and Hazard to devote more time than required to focus on stuff against their grain, season in, season out. And people wonder why there is always a capitulation after his second season and his attacking players are the first to go off the boil. Unless a treasure like his Inter side falls in his lap, his success and reign will always be short lived.
It's a sacrifice that I expect from a world class manager. As much as I am not a fan of José's approach, I've maintained that an evolved José will be take him to a whole new level.
But why should the leopard change it's spots when it has fed him well so far? The terrain of the jungle has changed and is ever changing. Adaptability is the key to success in football today. The only other solution is to bring in someone that understands the attacking side of the game more than José does. Jose belongs to the old school of football and like Fergurson, he'll be wise to know that he can't do it buy himself and bring a balance to both extremes of the game.
Fergie imo, is the best manager of all time, not because he was a master tactician or recruiter of talent but because he could manage personnel and effectively synergise different graces in the coaching sense. I don't know how many managers can remain successful with a continuous reflux of coaching staff. A fresh pair of eyes does wonders. The over reliance of the same right hand men for decades will result in the inevitable complacency, lack of new ideas, resistance to change etc.
If José is going to be successful at United, he'd better drop his ego and learn from the best United manager. Change or get fresh people in.
Or just heavily rely £££m and trust in individual brilliance.
Or just go to his dream job in PSG
shocker we don’t score nearly as much against better sides. That’s a hell of a statement mate care to enlighten us?
