2) Tactical tweak
Manchester United are playing like a glorified version of Stoke City under Tony Pulis. If Stoke had the spending power and bought the players United did in this window, we might have seen the same thing at the Britannia.
Almost every player in Mourinho’s preferred XI is over 180 cm tall and physically imposing; be it Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Paul Pogba. This has resulted to somewhat of a displeasure for the fans as the direction towards which Mourinho is heading is apparent: and it is not all that beautiful.
The system in place now doesn’t do justice to the creativity of players like Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan or use the explosiveness of Anthony Martial to full effect.
A laid-back defence, strong and rough tackles, long-balls and quick counters—the self-proclaimed Special One is leaning towards the approach that brought him the treble with Inter. However, what he has to realise is that he doesn’t have the privilege or the necessary midfielders to play the glorious 4-2-3-1 that he applied at Inter.
Even if he had the players, he still can’t use it because of Paul Pogba. Mourinho shattered the world record fee to land his target, so playing him in a confined role in a 2-man double pivot doesn’t make any sense. In fact, he has to play a…
