STUBBORN MOURINHO STRIKES AGAIN
Just when we thought Manchester United and Jose Mourinho had turned the corner, they put in a timid, defensive performance at Anfield in a dour 0-0 draw against Liverpool on Saturday.
Mourinho got exactly what he wanted but United should have gone for more.
[ MORE: Klopp questions United’s tactics ]
On Sunday I had a quick chat with an ex-United defender who was part of their treble winning campaign in 1999 when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were at their swashbuckling best.
We discussed United’s defensive mindset at Anfield and he simply said: “did we expect any different from Jose Mourinho away from home against a rival?”
Great point.
[ MORE: Player ratings | Three things ]
After United had won six games out of seven and scored 21 goals to open up the Premier League campaign, everyone had got wrapped up in their attacking brilliance and expected them to go at Liverpool for the win.
Look at Mourinho’s record since arriving at United against the other teams in the so-called “top six” away from home.
October 17, 2016: Liverpool (A) 0-0
October 23, 2016: Chelsea (A) 0-4 defeat
April 27, 2017: Man City (A) 0-0
May 7, 2017: Arsenal (A) 0-2 defeat
May 14, 2017: Tottenham (A) 1-2 defeat
October 14, 2017: Liverpool (A) 0-0
The above says it all. What else did we expect?
Since he take charge at the start of last season, Mourinho’s United have scored just one goal in their last six trips to the big boys. We can trace this defensive approach back to his time in charge of Chelsea and his mantra of beating the big boys at home and then holding them to draw away from home is still his approach.
Except, with Manchester City blowing teams away this season the points average United may need to win the title could see Mourinho’s overcautious approach away from Old Trafford come back to bite him.
That’s because he has the attacking talents to excel and if he had gone with Henrik Mkhitaryan instead of Ashley Young and Juan Mata instead of Ander Herrera from the start against Liverpool on Saturday, he could well have been rewarded for taking a risk and trying to exploit Liverpool’s defensive weakness.
United had one chance against Liverpool as Romelu Lukaku broke free in the box but hit his shot straight at Simon Mignolet. That was their only shot on target in 90 minutes and that is exactly what Mourinho was playing for. One chance to snatch a victory at Anfield as he limited any danger for his side.
They certainly did with Liverpool barely having a sniff either and this game was in fact in the bottom three of Opta’s new Expected Goals stat when it came to the quality of goalscoring chances created in games in the Premier League so far this season.
With Mourinho having one of the best goalkeepers in the world in David de Gea in the best form of his life, he can rely on him to save the best chance an opponent has in each game, just like he did with his stunning stop from Joel Matip.
5 - No goalkeeper has made more saves from big chances in the @premierleague this season than David de Gea. Stretch. #LIVMUN pic.twitter.com/karSzZ6kNr
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 14, 2017
Speaking after the game Jurgen Klopp said that Liverpool “could not play the way Manchester United played” under him and there is an element of truth to that.
“I’m sure if we played like this, you could not do this at Liverpool. Obviously for United it is OK,” Klopp said.
Under Rafael Benitez the Reds were often a stubborn defensive unit to break down and that certainly saw them win trophies and challenge for the Premier League title. Klopp’s high-pressing, attacking style has seen Liverpool entertained the masses, if not their own fans all the time, since he took charge two years ago but they have come no closer to winning the PL title and defensive issues continue to halt any progress they make.
But Mourinho, in true fashion, blamed Klopp for United’s defensive game plan not working.
Mourinho will never change and United’s fans will have to accept that in big games away from home they can expect plenty more defensive displays and reliance on a counter-attacking game.
That is just the way he is and a strong start to the Premier League season isn’t going to change it. Simple.
SHOCKS FOR LONDON CLUBS
Hands up for those of you who had Chelsea and Arsenal losing to Crystal Palace and Watford respectively heading into last weekend?
Liars.
Seriously, though, Chelsea’s defeat at Palace (who had yet to score a goal or grab a point before last weekend) was incredibly telling as to the squad Antonio Conte has as key injuries have ravaged the reigning champs.
With Alvaro Morata out, Victor Moses limping off during the game and N’Golo Kante out for the rest of the month, we are now beginning to realize just how lucky Chelsea were with injuries last season.
As for Arsenal, well, where do we start?
They were 1-0 up and cruising late on at Watford but when Mesut Ozil spurned a great chance to make it 2-0, Watford came to life.
Helped with the introduction of bullish striker Troy Deeney, Arsenal’s defense capitulated and were bullied as the Hornets grabbed victory.
Okay, Richarlison went down far too easily to win a penalty kick for the equalizer, but Tom Cleverley and Watford’s attackers just wanted it more than Arsenal’s defenders in stoppage time as he slammed home to send the Hornets fans wild.
Watford sit in Arsenal’s perennial perch of fourth place (well, until last season) and as things stand you could create a beliavable argument that they have a better chance of finishing there than Arsenal when the season ends.
The same frail defensive displays continue to haunt Arsene Wenger’s men away from home -- they have defeats at Liverpool, Stoke and now Watford in their opening four away games in the PL -- and nothing has really changed.“I have to watch what I say, but it’s [having] a bit of cojones, is what I’ll say. Whenever I play against Arsenal, I’ll go up and think, ‘Let me whack the first one and see who wants it.’ I came on today and jumped up with Mertesacker — I didn’t even have to jump, actually — I nodded it down, the crowd gets up, ‘Yeah, we’ve got somebody who can win it,’ and they all just backed off,” Deeney said.
“For me as a player, I just think, ‘Happy days.’ That’s my strength — if you’re going to let me do my strength against you, you’re going to have a tough afternoon.”
Both Arsenal and Chelsea are looking anything but title contenders right now with both teams nine points behind leaders Man City.
It is early in the season but this weekend proved just how far both Arsenal and Chelsea are from challenging for the title this season.
SWASHBUCKLING CITY
The main reason Chelsea, Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League has to be worried is because Man City are so damn good.
They destroyed Stoke City 7-2 at the weekend and Stoke didn’t play badly.
Missing Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and Benjamin Mendy, Pep Guardiola’s side were exquisite.
They’ve now scored 29 goals in their opening eight games of the season. The last top-flight team to score that many was Everton in 1894-95.
Kevin de Bruyne ran the show, once again, and Man City are now clear atop the table.
Judging by the mouthwatering offensive display you can watch below, it’s unclear if anyone is capable of stopping them.
Watch the highlights below. Trust me.
Premier League Playback comes out every week as PST’s Lead Writer and Editor takes an alternative look at the action from the weekend. Read the full archive, here.
