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Manchester United were handed a bit of respite following Saturday’s massive victory over Newcastle United. The Red Devils pulled off one of the most sensational comebacks in Premier League history to record a dramatic 3-2 win over Raphael Benitez’s men.
On a day when the Old Trafford crowd was looking forward to seeing a reaction from the Man United players, things rather started on a bad note.
Jose Mourinho – with earlier reports suggesting he would be fired after the game – was visibly under pressure and could only watch on as his side fell behind after just seven minutes of play.
A poor defensive display from the Red Devils allowed Kenedy to sneak in to put the Magpies into an early lead. But if that goal was bad news, things turned even worse when Newcastle went 2-0 up by the 10th minute.
However, a tactical masterclass from Mourinho ensured that Man United came out in the second half as the better side. The Red Devils completely changed the tempo of the game, with goals from Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez helping the team record an all-important 3-2 comeback win.
This was a win that gave Mourinho and a huge sigh of relief and, in truth, the Portuguese deserves credit for some tactical decisions he made during the game.
Here are three tactical switches from Mourinho which saved the day for Man United and to an extent the manager’s job as well:
#3 Freeing up his attackers
It is rare for Jose Mourinho to end a game with as many as five attacking players on the field. The Portuguese is usually the pragmatic type and often prefers to keep things tight and safe. However, against Newcastle, Mourinho threw caution to the wind and decided to free up all his attackers.
Having seen his side go 2-0 down at the break, Mourinho decided to take off the uninspiring Marcus Rashford and bring on Alexis Sanchez. By then, the Red Devils already had Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata already on the pitch.
This meant, for the first time this season, Man United had as many as five attacking players in the team for a single game. It was, therefore, no surprise that three of those attacking players were on the scoresheet to propel the team to victory.
The decision to release all of his attacking players is one that paid off, and in hindsight, Mourinho would know that it probably saved him his job as Man United manager as well.
#2 Playing just one centre-back
Now, if the decision to play five attacking players in the second half came as surprise, then the intuition to go with just one centre-back was even more shocking. Man United was clearly struggling after the first 15 minutes and Eric Bailly was probably the worst culprit.
However, very few managers could have had the courage to take off the defender and replace him with an extra attacking player. With Man United 2-0 down at the time, this was a huge risk and dare I say it was an “un-Mourinho-like” decision in the first place to bring Mata on.
In the end, it proved to be a shrewd tactical move and the attacking intensity led to the Red Devils overturning the scoreline and eventually winning 3-2. In the days of Alex Ferguson, such a thing was very common at Old Trafford.
However, those days are long gone, and it was refreshing to see Mourinho making such a tactical switch at such a crucial time. It may just have saved his job after that win.
#1 Giving Pogba the license to roam
The bone of contention between Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho this season has been the system which the Portuguese deploy the midfielder in. Two weeks ago, Mourinho was openly criticised by Pogba, after the Frenchman suggested the team needed to “attack” more.
However, on Saturday Pogba finally had his wish as he was liberated to operate in midfield. In one of his most assuring performances in recent times, the former Juventus man took the game by the horn and pulled all the strings in midfield.
Most Man United fans have often accused Pogba of being too sluggish and sometimes lazy. However, this was a new Pogba and his neat combination with Martial was what gave Man United the equaliser.
The decision to free Pogba in the midfield role is one that really paid off for Mourinho. He may not have admitted it in his post-match conference, but it is obvious that the Portuguese knows that Old Trafford craves for attacking football.
And, to bring out the best in Pogba, the midfielder needs to be given the licence to roam. Mourinho did exactly that in the second half against Newcastle and that was one of the reasons whey Man United won. He saved his job too in the process.
