West Ham United 3-1 Manchester United: 4 Mistakes by Mourinho that cost the game

#1 Ultra defensive game play

West Ham United v Manchester United - Premier League

Why does Mourinho continuously see the need to switch to an ultra-defensive mindset at every away game? It is understandable when he does that with the bigger teams, but Mourinho was guilty of giving West Ham too much respect and it cost United valuable 3 points.

For starters, 3 Centerbacks highlight his lack of belief in his own team and against West Ham, the extra man in defence was hardly required. But even that was not enough. When he already started with an extra defender or defensive midfielder, one can expect the Portuguese to be at least a little more adventurous in the midfield. He opted for two defensive minded players in the middle and Pogba was the only player there who would have contributed in the attack. For all his troubles, West Ham reaped the benefits.

First, the lack of attacking players in the wings meant that the West Ham full backs hardly had any pressure to defend, with Martial causing only occasional troubles, and as such, they attacked the wings continuously, pegging Young and Shaw back for almost the entire 90 minutes. In the midfield, West Ham hardly had to press, because United could not thread too many passes together. In the attack, United hardly had the personnel to give the West Ham defence any trouble.

This is a mistake that Mourinho repeats the most, so much so that it can be considered a habit of the Portuguese and this is what has cost United not just in this game, but in the past few games recently.