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Manchester United 2017 can be termed neither a success nor a failure. United managed to win the UEFA Europa League 2016/17 but finished 6th in the Premier League. The Old Trafford fear factor vanished, ever since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and the Blues dominate Manchester.
United returned to the Champions League this season and have made some interesting signings in the summer transfer window. They got off to a blistering start but faded away in October and November. United now trail City by 11 points in the Premier League and the title race is looking well and truly over.
Let's see what went wrong at Old Trafford in 2017
#5 United lacked a clinical no.10
United got Henrikh Mkhitaryan during the summer of 2016 after his stunning season in Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. With 11 goals and 15 assists, Mkhitaryan was one of Europe's best playmakers in 2016. However, he had a hard time getting used to the style and physicality of the Premier League.
He got better late in the last season and played a key role in United's Europa League win. He started the 2017/18 season with 5 assists in the first 3 PL games but waned off completely as the season progressed. In his next 13 appearances for United, the Armenian only bagged a couple of goals and eventually lost his starting place in the United line up.
Mourinho tried Juan Mata in the no.10 role but the Spaniard failed to make an impact. In 16 appearances for United this season, Mata has scored only once and assisted 3 more. He too lost his place in the team after a string of poor performances which has left a big void in the United team.
#4 Lack of attacking wingers
United pursuit of a winger after the departure of Angel di Maria and Memphis Depay has ended in a failure during the transfer window. Mourinho chased Ivan Perisic throughout out the summer but failed to land his man. It was one of the key positions that Mourinho wanted to strengthen but could not do so. To his dismay, Perisic is having a great season at Inter, with 7 goals and 6 assists from 16 Serie A games.
United also chased the Real Madrid star, Gareth Bale, but the Welshman showed no interest in returning to the Premier League, leaving Jose Mourinho without a recognized winger in the squad for the 2017/18 season.
Mourinho deployed Marcus Rashford on the left and Juan Mata on the right at the start of the season. But Mata's lack of pace slowed down United's attacking play. After a series of disappointing results, Mourinho deployed Rashford and Martial on either wing. Though it yielded some good results, they are in their early 20's and no match for Perisic or Bale.
#3 No Pogba, No Goals - Mourinho's Plan B failed.
Ever since his Manchester United return, Pogba has become one of the key players for Jose Mourinho. He started off slowly in the 2016/17 season but got better as the season progressed.
The arrival of Nemanja Matic produced the best out of him and enabled him to rediscover his Juventus form. The Frenchman is currently one of the best midfielders in the world and has played superbly for United over the last few months.
But the problem for Mourinho is, United rely a lot on Paul Pogba. Without the Frenchman, United looked flat and found it difficult to break the opponents. The creative spark vanished in his absence and United could not dominate the games.
Pogba missed half of United games this season and Mourinho's side faltered without the influential midfielder.
Manchester United performance with/without Paul Pogba this season
Chances per game (with Pogba) - 14.8
Chances per game (without Pogba) - 7
Goals per game (with Pogba) - 3
Goals per game (without Pogba) - 1.6
#2 Mourinho doesn't have the right players to implement his philosophy
Mourinho's teams are always built on a strong defensive base, pacy wingers, and strong forwards. In his first title win at Chelsea, Mourinho had the right players like John Terry, William Gallas, Claude Makelele, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba to implement his philosophy. It worked wonders for him in Porto and Inter Milan as well.
But at Manchester United, Mourinho could not get the right set of players to play his style of football. Romelu Lukaku struggled on multiple occasions against stronger opponents and the back line looked vulnerable. Nemanja Matic gave him some defensive stability but the wing play is not world class.
Mourinho frequently modified his formations and used an ultra-cautious approach when playing against the top teams. As we have witnessed this year, United sat back and defend the whole game, when they played Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur. Mourinho's bizarre tactics have let United down quite a few time this year.
#1 Injury prone & inconsistent United defense
Mourinho never got a chance to play a consistent back line this year. He has Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Marcos Rojo, Victor Lindelof as center-backs, but their frequent injuries have made Mourinho to chop and change the team on multiple occasions.
Eric Bailly had a brilliant year but only played a limited role because of his frequent injuries. The same goes for Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo as well. Chris Smalling was inconsistent and Lindelof took a lot of time to settle at Old Trafford.
Even though Mourinho had 5 center-backs in the squad, he rarely had the luxury to pick his best two. If not for David de Gea's brilliance, Manchester United's defensive record would have looked really bad.
The same goes for full-backs. Except for Antonio Valencia, United played Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, and Ashley Young as full-backs during the last few months and none them showed quality except for Ashley Young.
