UNITED Mourinho’s facing up to tactical dilemma
IF Jose Mourinho goes with the same line-up which basked in the adulation of United’s travelling support at Selhurst Park, it could be a classic at Old Trafford today when bitter rivals Liverpool come to town.
As United desperately went in search of an equaliser, and then a winner, against Crystal Palace, it was hard to tell what formation they were playing when Luke Shaw and Juan Mata were boldly thrown on midway through the second half.
The only players with defined positions on the field were defenders Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof – Jesse Lingard even played as a wingback on the right!
Smelling blood, as Palace’s weary troops collapsed with cramp, United went for broke – and it worked. It is never a good thing to be 2-0 down, but to come back as they did was heartening for Mourinho ahead of a week of season-defining fixtures against Liverpool, Sevilla and Brighton.
So, how should Mourinho approach his latest clash with Jurgen Klopp?
The Portuguese infamously set out to frustrate the German in the reverse fixture in October and banked on in-form striker Romelu Lukaku to take an inevitable chance.
Had the Belgian done that, Mourinho’s set-up would have been hailed as a masterclass, but Lukaku fluffed his lines with a one-on-one in the first half. Instead, attention was drawn to Mourinho’s decision not to attack Liverpool’s leaky defence.
“I was waiting for Jurgen to change, I was waiting for him to go more attacking but he kept the three strong midfielders all the time where he was having control because I only had [Ander] Herrera and [Nemanja] Matic,” he mischievously said in his postmatch press conference.
“Well, you [Liverpool] were at home and you didn’t move anything? I think he (Klopp) did well, honestly. He didn’t let the game break.”
That result halted United’s momentum after such a blistering start to the season and they then suffered a shock defeat to Huddersfield a week later.
Not too long ago, a draw would have been a decent result against a title rival, but Mourinho has had to adapt his approach as the season has worn on.
These clashes are no longer the games of chess Mourinho used to enjoy with Rafael Benitez when the pair were at the peak of their powers – now, teams go for the win.
Looking at City’s record against the top-six, for example, they have dropped points in just one game, against Liverpool in January, and have won their other seven matches against United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and the Scousers.
United are not far behind, to be fair, and since that Liverpool stalemate, Mourinho has gone for the win against Spurs and Chelsea at Old Trafford and against Arsenal at the Emirates.
How he approaches the visit of Liverpool will be telling when there were so many questions raised from that win at Palace. Why are Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez struggling so much? 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1? Why were United so sloppy? Can they stop the red-hot Mohamed Salah again?
You would think Mourinho will want to match Liverpool’s 4-3-3 formation, which could mean Scott McTominay starting his fifth consecutive game despite coming off at half-time at Selhurst Park.
Ironically, a draw might not be a bad result this time around.