Jose, your special ones must not be dis-United Galacticos
MY worry for Manchester United is that Jose Mourinho is creating his version of the ‘Galacticos’ rather than building a team with the right balance and blend.
He seems to be saying, ‘Right, I’ve spent some big money, I’ve got rid of the deadwood and I’ve made Michael Carrick the captain, so all is well in our world’.
I’m not certain that’s the case, though, because Tuesday’s Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid has made me think otherwise.
Yes, Mourinho has made some good signings. But watching United in midweek, I couldn’t help thinking that, like last season, they looked fairly disjointed rather than a fully cohesive unit.
Cohesion
That might be a bit harsh, because they won trophies last time out – two or three depending on your viewpoint. But when you think of great United teams and great Mourinho teams, the one thing they have always had is cohesion and it was obvious what they were trying to achieve.
I said at the start of last season that over the course of the campaign, with a winner like Mourinho at the helm, United would be difficult to beat and would win trophies, and it turned out to be true.
The reason they didn’t challenge for first and second, though, was that there were too many draws and that was because he didn’t know his best XI.
I also said that Mourinho needed to work out quickly which was his best front four and it took him a long time to do that, which came back to haunt him.
And this season he could face the same problems if he doesn’t quickly work out his best partnerships all over the field.
What’s his best pairing down the right or left? What’s his best central-defensive pairing and which two work best with David De Gea? Who are the best two holders – Carrick plus one, Paul Pogba plus one, Nemanja Matic plus one?
There are so many imponderables for Mourinho and United, and I’m not yet convinced that the draws from last season are automatically going to be turned into wins this year. If we were all to pick our best starting line-ups from United’s squad we’d come to the same conclusion, barring one, maybe two exceptions. But picking your ‘ Galacticos’ doesn’t always make the best team – how many of us would have selected Antonio Valencia at rightback l ast year, for example? So Mourinho needs to work that out quickly and today’s clash at Old Trafford will give us an idea of whether or not he is on the right track. On Tuesday, United were battered by Real and, having seen the Spaniards take on archrivals Barcelona in New York 10 days earlier, I couldn’t help but notice how sharp they looked. Both teams had a right good go at each other and it does kind of make you a little concerned as to how Spanish teams in particular come back looking fresh and sharp, they hit the NEWCASTLE are back in the big time, but given their summer signings their return will be a little underwhelming. They suffer with geography because players would rather live in London, then Manchester and maybe then Liverpool or Birmingham. And added to that is the fact that these days a 20-year-old player would probably not see them any differently than, say a Bournemouth or a Huddersfield. ground running and look technically very good. Whereas a lot of the English clubs have played five, six or seven pre-season games and still look a little bit leggy – perhaps unsurprising given their global pre- seasons tours, something clubs should seriously reconsider.
Mantra
Of course, United will have wanted to beat Real but the game that matters is West Ham. And the mantra that’s trotted out by every manager and every coach in every dressing room ahead of the first game of the season will have been the same.
“Don’t l ose, give yourself something positive to start the s eason with and something, whether it’s three points or a point on the board, to hang on to and move forward in the first three weeks before the international break.”
Mourinho will have said the same and as he sends his men out with those words ringing in their ears he will hope they respond by showing him those partnerships are already building.