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Manchester United welcomed Crystal Palace to Old Trafford on Saturday night. This was the first time that United were playing at home since the victory over Everton at the end of last month and in the last 3 away games, the Red Devils had won 2, but had also succumbed to a disappointing defeat to arch rivals City.
Crystal Palace were in a mess themselves. They were winless in the Premier League since the middle of September and were currently on 16th place in the table. The Eagles had scored just 8 goals in the 12 games so far in the league, a fact that would have pleased the United defence, which has been poor so far.
History had always been kind to United in this fixture, as the Red Devils had never lost to the Eagles in the Premier League, recording 15 wins and 3 draws. In all competitions, the sides have met 53 times, with United winning 36 and drawing 10 of those. It was supposed to be an easy 3 points for United, but in the Premier League, nothing can be confirmed.
Mourinho opted for 4 changes from the team that lost to Manchester City. Darmian came in at right back, with Young moving to left back to make up for Luke Shaw, who was suspended after receiving his 5th yellow card. Mata, Pogba and Lukaku came in for Fellaini, Herrera and Rashford. Mourinho set out a team that should have earned United another win at Old Trafford, however, things did not go as planned.
Both teams played out a stale 0-0 draw, and while the game did have its moments, neither team did enough to win all 3 points. For Manchester United, it was a disappointing night and we look at 5 causes of concern that will have Mourinho worried.
#5 United have no back up for Luke Shaw
Ashley Young has been good for United, making up for the absence of Valencia so well that very few people have missed the Ecuadorian this season. However, Luke Shaw has been a level apart this season and his absence against Crystal Palace was desperately felt throughout the 90 minutes.
Shaw's speed, desire and willingness to bomb forward has been a hit among the supporters. The Englishman has been one of the very few shining lights in a dismal United season so far and his combination with Anthony Martial has been razor sharp. Without Shaw to hog the touchline against Palace, Martial looked a little lost.
While Young was decent in the back four, he was not at all effective in the attacking third, with his tendency to cut back to his favoured right foot not working well.
Shaw should be back for the next game, but Mourinho would have taken note and will definitely be worried by the look of things.
#4 Matic continues to be in poor form
The Serbian looks a completely different player this season. His loss of form has been one of the main reasons for United's lack of defensive discipline. Last season, Matic had finished the season with 70 tackles, 16th among all the midfielders in the Premier League and had attempted 2601 passes, 6th highest in the league.
This season, Matic has just 15 tackles so far, he's not even among the top 40 in the league and has attempted just 617 passes, putting him in the 34th position among the top passers so far. Incidentally, Fred has 14 tackles and Luke Shaw has 613 passes!
Against Palace too, Matic could not dictate the play and his poor form has affected the players around him. While the defense has been borne the blunt of his misdeeds, Pogba has been suffering too, for lack of support. As such, now is the time for change, if Mourinho finally acknowledges it. Fred, Herrera or even Pereira would be a far better choice and perhaps a break would do the Serbian a world of good too.
#3 Lukaku's continued failure to score
Romelu Lukaku has not scored at home this season. He has just 4 goals from 16 games in all competitions. For a club the stature of United, this is simply unacceptable. The Belgian has attempted 21 shots so far, with only 10 of those on target. Incidentally, he has missed 5 big chances in the Premier League already!
Lukaku drew a blank in the first game against Leicester City, but scored his first of the season against Brighton. He failed to score against Spurs in the following game, but then scored 3 goals in the next two games. Since then though, the Belgian has failed to find the back of the net in 7 games in the Premier League and 11 games in total. Infact, he has not scored since the middle of September! Against Palace, the chances were too less, yet Lukaku did score once, only for it to be correctly ruled offside. He had little impact on the game, even though his hold up play was good.
While the defense has been drawing attention, United's lack of goals has been a concern too. With a better goal scorer leading them, United could have picked up a few more crucial points already this season and Mourinho should be worried about his big striker's lack of form.
#2 United struggle again when Pogba is poor
Whenever the World Cup winning Frenchman had an off day this season, United have been poor too. It is a shame that the Red Devils are so reliant on Paul Pogba that his absence almost orphans them! There seems to be an absence of other creative outlets on the pitch and this is quite alarming for a team that has been invested so heavily on in the past few seasons.
Arguably, only Juan Mata can match the creative abilities of Pogba, however, the Frenchman is the driving force of this United team. He switches play, defends, and joins the attack at the right moment. His tricks and flips open up the defenses and his cross field passes are a treat to watch. More than that, Pogba has the ability to galvanize the team, to inspire them and instigate them to take the fight to the opposition. Against Palace though, Pogba was very poor and did nothing of any significance. He failed to dictate the midfield and his manager cannot be blamed for hauling him off in the second half.
When Pogba switches off, and he has switched off regularly in games this season, United miss an important character on the field and Mourinho needs to address this. If United are to succeed in this set up, Pogba needs to deliver day in day out and play the full 90 minutes with the same intensity. The fact that this has not been happening will be Mourinho's biggest headache.
#1 Lack of desire from players
The biggest concern in the game against Crystal Palace has to be the United player's lack of urgency. United started the game well and pressed the Eagles back for the first 20 minutes. However, they could not get the decisive goal in that time, which enabled Palace to come back into the game. They attacked United on the counter and with a little bit of composure in front of goal, could have even punished the Red Devils.
As the game went on, the players seemed to be lost, but that has been the case in the first half for almost all the games this season. What was alarming was that United failed to hit higher gears in the second half.
When Mourinho realized that nothing was working, he tried to spice things up by bringing on Fellaini and Rashford in place of Lingard and Mata. He even threw in Sanchez in place of the misfiring Pogba. While the substitutes did display a little bit of desire, the whole team failed to gel.
The players seemed unaware that points lost at Old Trafford against a team languishing at the bottom of the league was unimaginable for Manchester United, especially since they were already miles behind the front row performers. It is this attitude, this lack of desire that will be of the greatest concern for Mourinho after the Palace game.
