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After losing 3-1 to Manchester City last Sunday, Manchester United sits in an unfamiliar mid-table territory, 12 points behind their cross-city rivals.
Sunday’s loss was United's fourth in the league this season. It is strange territory for United, reminiscent of the 1990-91 season when they lost as many games in the opening 12.
A season in which they finished sixth behind Arsenal, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Man City in the old First Division. Here are two simple reasons at the core of The Red Devils' struggles.
#1 An erratic defense
In all honesty, United’s defensive record this season is upsetting. So far, they have conceded 21 goals in 12 EPL games.
In contrast to last season, United had an impressive defensive record, only bettered by Manchester City. But now all that has changed, and currently Mourinho’s charges have the 5th worst defense in England.
Mourinho has been experimenting a lot with his back-line. A fact he admitted after their 3-0 humiliation by Tottenham on 27 August. This season so far, the Portuguese tactician has severally tinkered with defensive partnerships.
At the moment, he has tried to stick with Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, and Ashley Young. Starting from their 3-2 win over Newcastle on 6 October, those have been his preferred back four, but they too have not stopped conceding goals.
In all, United have only managed a single clean sheet this season. Only Fulham without a clean sheet have a worse record.
In goal they have a truly world class keeper in David De Gea, but the Spaniard may not be as outstanding as he was last season, but certainly the defensive experiments must be unsettling even for him.
Apart from goalkeeping, the only other unit at United which often shows promising signs is the forward line. Except for Romelu Lukaku's problems, in Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, there’s always a safe pair. Not many teams in the league can boast of such quality within their ranks.
However, even with excellent goalkeeping and outstanding strikers, it can be a tall order winning, with defenders who keep on fumbling and conceding goals every other game.
#2 Lack of intensity in midfield
The second problematic area is without doubt The Red Devils' midfield. Although there's a handful of decent guys in there, this season is proving somewhat unambitious. Without Paul Pogba, United have often lacked intensity and creativity in midfield.
It's only when the Frenchman is around the midfield comes alive. His combination especially with Martial and Luke Shaw can sometimes produce ecstatic flashes of artistry and energy. Unfortunately, it all becomes dull and uninspiring in his absence.
On Sunday that was the case. There was no Pogba, and subsequently things went south. The derby badly exposed a weakness in Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera's game. For the better part, they struggled to stay afloat amidst City's rampage.
It's no wonder Mourinho’s men managed a paltry 6 shots against City’s 17, and 380 passes against City’s 704.
Ilkay Gundogan's clincher, coming off a build-up of 44 passes is a good confirmation of just how bland United can get. In all, there was so much room for City to roam around. Hopefully, Mourinho will fix these two glaring weaknesses in his team before it's too late.
