JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Sir Alex returns to Old Trafford and more Mourinho moans
Jose Mourinho once again had a public pop at his players. The only difference this time was that Sir Alex Ferguson was in the Old Trafford crowd to witness Manchester United’s poor performance. The 1-1 draw with Wolves leaves them eight points behind 100% leaders Liverpool. Mourinho said: “I think the result is fair. They deserved their point and we deserve the punishment of only getting one point. “I don’t know why, but Wolves were more motivated. I was expecting more from my attacking players. There was not enough creativity, movement or dynamism. “Our performance was not consistent, not creative and not dynamic. From a mental point of view, their approach was more for a football match than ours.”
manchester united 1 Fred (18) wolves 1 Moutinho (53)
Jose Mourinho accused his Manchester United side of taking their foot off the gas and ignoring “the basic law of football” after they were held at Old Trafford by a tenacious Wolves. Having strung together wins over Burnley, Watford and Young Boys respectively, United seemed to be finding a groove, but were brought back down to earth by a sluggish display in front of the returning Sir Alex Ferguson. They were comfortably second best in the opening exchanges, but took the lead after 18 minutes when a classy, instinctive pass off Paul Pogba’s instep teed up Fred for his first goal in English football. The Brazilian’s crisp finish lifted United, but not sufficiently to make the game safe and Wolves grabbed a deserved point in the second half when midfielder Joao Moutinho curled a fine finish past David De Gea. The afternoon started with a heartfelt ovation for Ferguson, back in the directors’ box for the first time since undergoing brain surgery in May, but it was the travelling support who were celebrating by the final whistle. A frustrated Mourinho said: “It was not a good performance and not a good result, but a fair result. “They (Wolves) play like I like to play which is like the World Cup final. That’s the attitude I like my teams to have every match. We didn’t have that, they did. They play every ball with every second with the maximum intensity and desire. This is something you learn when you are a kid in the academy, you don’t need experiences at the highest level to learn that.” Mourinho bristled at a suggestion that senior players had let him down, happily spreading the blame far and wide. Only his redoubtable goalkeeper De Gea, without whom United would surely have been staring at a first defeat in the fixture since 1980, will feel able to rise entirely above the criticism. “It’s not about the biggest names, it is my team. And I expect my team to play better than we did,” the manager continued. “It is a basic law of football, you have to play at the maximum of your potential, unless you are playing in such a weak league against such weak opponents where playing at 30% of your potential is enough. We all know that is not the case.” Wolves side wasted little time announcing themselves once the whistle blew. Jonny hurled himself into an early challenge on Antonio Valencia – back in place of Diogo Dalot – earning penalty appeals from fans behind the goal, but admiration from those who saw him time his slide to perfection. Forward momentum quickly followed, almost all of it aimed in the direction of Luke Shaw at left-back. Wolves successfully burrowed in behind the England international four times in 15 minutes and might easily have conjured a goal for their efforts. That they failed to was down the steadfast De Gea. He reacted quickly to block Raul Jimenez’s snap-shot with his feet, Helder Costa having skipped to the byline and cut back, then made an even better tumbling stop from a corner. United took the lead against the run of play after Alexis Sanchez’s cross was half-cleared to Pogba. The World Cup winner processed his options in an instant, cushioning a firsttime pass that took Ruben Neves out of the game and left Fred with a clear sight of goal. The Brazilian obliged, whipping into the bottom corner from the edge of the area and ensuring Pogba’s touch got its rightful reward. Fred almost doubled his tally with the last kick before half-time, bending a free-kick towards the top corner only for Rui Patricio to muster a save that would sit neatly in De Gea’s own scrapbook. Wolves levelled on the counter eight minutes after the interval, Jimenez collecting the ball in the centre of the box after another raid down the United left which began with sloppy play from Pogba. Awkwardly placed for a shot he laid off for Moutinho, who was lingering 18 yards from goal and bent a classy finish past De Gea. Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who once played under Mourinho at Porto, cut a satisfied figure at the end of the match, but cautioned against hubris. His side sit comfortably mid-table with nine points from six games in their first season back among the elite, but he declined to indulge the away fans’ chants of “Nuno’s the special one”. “It’s not easy to come to Old Trafford – a fantastic club, with fantastic players and a fantastic manager – and okay, we did it, but let’s improve,” he said. “Let’s get better, so we can play every week like this. What we want now is to work harder than we did before because we have another game on Tuesday and again on Saturday.”