MAN IN THE MUDDLE
Jose has become the Confused One
JOSE MOURINHO is desperate not to make a drama out of Manchester United’s Champions League disaster. And it is a good job, because the leading characters in the ‘drama’ United have now created seem incapable of learning their lines. Whatever script Mourinho gave his side ahead of the Sevilla showdown at Old Trafford did not make sense to Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez. Imagine if David Moyes had said what he did in the wake of this crushing defeat, claiming it was not the end of the world because it had happened before? Moyes would not have made it out of the stadium alive. No one believed the drama would have an unhappy ending and threaten to turn into a crisis – but it will be if United don’t beat Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. Whatever happens, United’s season now feels like it will be defined by what happened on Tuesday night – and the manner in which it unfolded. Mourinho is a master at deflecting the blame from his players on to himself but on this occasion he does not have to. He is to blame for this complete shambles. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ morphed into the ‘Confused One’ in the space of just a few days. Having produced a tactical masterclass to outwit Liverpool last weekend, he went to the bottom of the class in 72 hours. Marcus Rashford, matchwinner against the Anfield side with a wrecking ball display on the left flank, was switched to the right against Sevilla. That did not work. Mourinho dropped Scott McTominay, who has been in the form of his life in recent weeks. In came Marouane Fellaini ahead of Pogba, despite the fact he had not played since November because of injury. That did not work.
Juan Mata, so influential against the Reds, also found himself stuck on the substitutes’ bench alongside Pogba. Both came on too late in the second half. That did not work.
Bizarre
Do not even begin to try to grasp how Mourinho has managed to transform Sanchez from a worldclass superstar into a pub player in the space of a few weeks.
Sanchez deserves to be dropped because he has done little to justify his place in the team.
Mourinho has serious questions to answer. So, too, do United’s power brokers, who were quick to upgrade and extend his contract – and hand a new deal to the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Those in power have, up to now, been throwing cash at the problem but the Portuguese boss cannot seem to get the expensive pieces of the jigsaw to fit.
The most pressing debate is the bizarre situation surrounding Pogba, who is rapidly becoming the most expensive misfit in football history.
Did executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward keep the receipt for the Frenchman when he spent £90m resigning him from Juventus in 2016?
If Mourinho thinks Fellaini, after three months on the sidelines, is a better midfield option for United’s biggest game of the season, then Pogba has a major problem because he now knows he is not trusted.
He did not go back to United to sit on the bench. And he certainly did not go back to find himself in the humiliating position of being down the pecking order behind someone the club are prepared to let go this summer.
Mourinho has had his backside kicked by Pep Guardiola and Man City this season but could salvage some pride by winning the FA Cup.
Louis van Gaal thought he had done that, but all he got in the way of thanks was his P45 and a one-way ticket to his plush villa in Portugal. United finished fourth in the Premier League then. At least Mourinho looks on course for a second-place finish.
His one salvation is also the biggest irony, because even the club’s bosses appreciate just how special their neighbours have been under Guardiola. But United do not exist to make up the numbers or pay Mourinho £15m a season to fail. No one remembers the team that comes second.