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#2 Incoherency in midfield
Jose Mourinho started with a midfield containing Perreira, Fred, Fellaini and Pogba, and of this quartet, only the Belgian can claim to have a genuine stake on the United first team.
Andrea Perreyra was making his first start since August and is into the final year of his United contract, but played nothing like it, being ineffectual. Meanwhile, Fred continues to baffle and look a shadow of the highly sought after player that he was at Shakhtar Donetsk.
The 25-year-old was the subject of a bidding war between United and City, and there was much optimism when he was snapped from Pep's grasp. But the Brazil international put up another AWOL performance and was hauled off 15 minutes into the second half (marking the sixth straight time he has been substituted before the 64th minute in the last two months), and questions have begun as to why players struggle once arriving United.
Paul Pogba was perhaps the most disappointing of all. United's record signing and the most expensive player in Premier League history, but since his 2016 second coming, the World Cup winner has received justified criticism of his inconsistencies and excesses on the field. With Mourinho benching him for each of the last two matches and specifically earmarking him to deliver an emphatic performance in his pre-match analysis.
As it happened, Pogba was disappointing on the night, only offering nonthreatening speculative shots from distance.
Marouane Fellaini for all the love Mou has for him is effectively nothing more than a contingency plan when United need a target man when they're chasing matches, with the 31-year-old lacking the requisite technique needed to make a mark on a full match.
Manchester United's midfield was virtually nonexistent throughout the match against Valencia, failing to link up properly with Lukaku in attack, leaving the Belgian record goalscorer to cut a frustrated figure up front, while also failing to provide adequate protection for their back four, as Los Che had multiple chances to attack United, with Carlos Soler and Sanyi Mina having a field day against Jones and the likes.
