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Jose has been typical Jose this preseason for Manchester United. From complaining about the lack of first-team players to thrusting the limelight on Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool for their big spending this summer, Jose has done everything to keep the limelight away from his United side. And no one should be surprised. It is obvious from Mourinho's comments that he doesn't think that the squad that United have is enough to get past Manchester City.
He has been desperate to get new bodies into the club. Despite the additions of Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant, you can see that Mourinho wants more. And you can't blame him. A squad that finished in second place but 19 points behind the winners will need more than a third-choice goalkeeper and a couple of good but not so great players to get over the line this season. However, an area of the United squad that does not need any new bodies is the attacking third.
United have been linked to Frankfurt's Ante Rebic (who had a pretty impressive World Cup) and Ivan Perisic (again!) of Inter. It is apparent that the United attack is a work in progress. It is also pretty clear that United's attack under Mourinho might never function like Liverpool's does under Klopp or even like Mourinho's Real Madrid did during their heydays. However, this lack of fluidity is more on the system and the lack of continuity than on the personnel.
With Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata ready to play next to or behind Romelu Lukaku, it is not as if United don't have the depth to make it offensively. And all of this is before factoring in a system with two holding midfielders to unleash Paul Pogba as the attacking midfielder or making room to fit in breakout candidate Andreas Pereira.
The fact that United are expected to play in a 4-3-3 next season only helps consolidate the fact that it is not depth that they lack. With Martial, Rashford and Sanchez all ready to play through the middle in case of Lukaku's absence, Mourinho should have a plethora of options to choose from next season.
However continuous rumours should perhaps hide the fact that Jose seems to trust very few of this United squad. After practically coining the term untouchable players during his first stint at Chelsea as the special one, Mou is having a hard time doing the same at United. Romelu Lukaku played almost every game last season, but other than him his trust seems to waver.
Alexis has been ever-present since his arrival, however, a continuation of last season's form won't see him last long. Jesse Lingard had a breakout season last time, however, there seemed to be a feeling that he was not dropped during a dip in form towards the latter part of the campaign due to a lack of alternatives. Paul Pogba and Jose share a much publicised but complicated relationship. Marcus Rashford was favoured at the start of the season, however, he saw his playing time decrease as the season went on. Juan Mata has never been a Mourinho favourite and it looks like his renaissance at United might be about to end. Anthony Martial might already have played his last game for United. Same goes Pereira.
See the common denominator here?
To be fair, this not a knock on Mourinho's managerial capabilities. He has proven himself everywhere he's been. This instead points to his inability to trust his options. Rather than craving a right-sided attacker, maybe shifting Alexis on that flank might help. Just ask Barcelona.
Rather than craving another centre-forward, some trust in either Martial or Rashford or even both might help.
Instead of scouring the market for an attacking midfielder of the highest quality, he should be focusing on patching up with Paul Pogba, who can be a force of nature from anywhere on the field
The truth is, we've all seen this story before. And we all know how it ends. After all, it's Jose's third season at the club. He is disgruntled and unhappy with the signings that the club are making, as always. However, this just might be the time for a different climax. If, and that is a very big if, Jose starts trusting the players that he has instead of simply having to buy new ones every summer.
