Some fans will argue style is as important as results but can the manager deliver both?
IT would seem not all of the Reds support are ‘feeling fine’ and that actually Jose hasn’t got his side playing the way United should.
As United left the Riverside on Sunday following their 3-1 win against Middlesbrough, a long-inthe-tooth Reds fan remarked: “Sir Matt Busby would have turned in his grave. United with six at the back! That’s not Manchester United.”
With 21 minutes left on Teesside, Mourinho’s side were 2-0 up from goals by Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard.
At that point the Old Trafford boss decided to protect the hard-earned lead and shore up at the back.
Marcos Rojo joined Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly as a fourth central defender in the formation with Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young becoming full-backs rather than their previous freer jobs as wing-backs.
The tactic almost backfired as the chaos that reigned saw the defence sloppily gift Middlesbrough’s Rudy Gestede a goal – and United endured a nervy finale until Antonio Valencia’s injury time tap-in from Victor Valdes’ almighty error.
There is an element of the United support who would have preferred the team to stay on the front foot and not invite a potential comeback and loss of points.
That’s the cavalier way it has always been and what makes United box office entertainment.
The last 20 minutes or so at the Riverside was not entertainment generated by United and Jose Mourinho. There is a tendency to
re-write history and believe the summers were always long and the Reds always abided by Busby’s doctrine, later to be immortalised during Sir Alex Ferguson’s glory years.
But even Fergie wasn’t always a fan of gung-ho. Obviously the Reds were never in front in that infamous 6-1 Manchester derby rout in 2011 at Old Trafford, but when United went down to ten men after Jonny Evans was sent off it opened the door to the slaughter.
“It was a horrible defeat but it was suicidal,” Ferguson said at the time. “With ten men we kept attacking – it was crazy football and ended up being an embarrassment. We should have just said: ‘We’ve had our day’. I thought with the experience we’ve got they would have defended more. Sometimes there has to be common sense about it. It was a bad day.”
It was common sense for Mourinho to keep what he had at Middlesbrough. But it upset some supporters.
What do United fans really want, success or style? Obviously both would be preferable but should some triumphs along the way come at a cost to panache?