However what you did say was pretty darn close to that. Surely you are not disingenuously suggesting that this wasn't what you were implying? You said " I've yet to see an elite coach that tells the players to go out and express themselves."
Mind you I will give you the benefit of the doubt since we both want the same thing , United to play effective football. I think your point about full backs playing alongside strikers is just a bit silly really. This sort of thing only happens regularly in kids football. No professional full back is ever going to intentionally do that for long periods.
But I would argue that a fullback should not feel as if he is going to be told off if he finds himself in that position or drifts into an attack. Good managers allow for some of this because it creates space , surprise and can work really well. You may have heard of total football? I didn't have a problem with Evra turning up in weird positions in attack for example and I'm sure he wasn't told off by SAF for doing so. It seemed to work well at times.
You are right to say that defensive football is not necessarily negative football , but it often becomes that if it's not combined with quality and incisive counter attacking. Otherwise you have no threat. A real offensive threat on the break is a great form of defence. There's no better way of defending than breaking on your opponents and nearly scoring because they have thrown too many men forward. It makes them think twice about pressing you too hard or doing it again. You simply cannot see defence and attack as separate. They are not.
Interestingly , one of the things that Jose seems to do (eg Liverpool away) is restrict the movement of players out of their positions so much that it stifles any expression. The result? Players become too disciplined and too rigid and fearful and keep too much to the "2 lines of 4 (or 5)" approach. So much so that when they win the ball back there's no proper movement and expression or real desire to attack , the move then predictably breaks down , opposition wins the ball again and we camp in our own box. Over and over and over again , this sorry parade of hopeless negativity was played out at Anfield and it was a bloody good job we had De Gea in goal that day.
This is what I can hoofball and it's not defensive , positive or even proper counter attacking , and it's a poor cousin of what his old Chelsea teams actually did. It's beyond me how you cannot see how pants it is , Pogba or no Pogba.