Jose’s Red Devils starting to look more ominous now by the day
NEMANJA MATIC is 6ft 4in; Romelu Lukaku is 6ft 3in; Victor Lindelof is 6ft 1in. It may not be what Manchester United fans have been traditionally used to, as it may be a step away from the panache and flair on which they have been brought up on, but Jose Mourinho is building something. And it looks almost like a machine, a team of strong, physical battle-hardened players to get him through the winter. And that may be enough to get United back in the game to challenge for the title.
To be clear, the United teams under Alex Ferguson were never soft touches. They, too, had fighters, like Eric Cantona, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane and Paul Ince. But in essence they were built on exciting wingers, flying forwards and great skill.
What Mourinho is constructing is a subtly different, something more like his first Chelsea team of 2004-05. Then he had Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Didier Drogba down the spine of his team. Don’t get me wrong: they were capable of some fine, skilful football. The finesse came from Damien Duff and Arjen Robben on the wings. But they also overpowered and overwhelmed opponents.
It looks as though Mourinho has assessed what United need and has returned to the same formula. Henrikh Mikihitaryan and Juan Mata may get the role of creators and Marcus Rashford to provide some speed; maybe Anthony Martial, if he can revive himself under Mourinho. The fact that he is 6’0” may give him a chance.
But essentially this is a powerful team of giants predominantly over 6’0” tall: David de Gea, Eric Bailly, Lindelof, Paul Pogba, Maroune Fellaini, Michael Carrick, Martial and Lukaku. There are some good technical players in there. It’s not as though United are completely abandoning their traditions. And Mourinho will argue it is an evolution of the Ferguson era. But he has assessed the physical challenge of the current Premier League and is determined to ensure he can compete.
If there is one doubt I have about it would be over Lukaku at £75million. We know why Mourinho didn’t rate him at Chelsea. It is all about his first touch and close play. My feeling with Lukaku is that he needs space to run into. He’s at his best when he can terrorise defenders, running at them on to goal.
He won’t get that kind of game for United, when sides bank up, sit deep and deny space. That’s when a team and a striker has to be more intricate in their build up play. Life may be difficult for him at Old Trafford.
If you think about those 10 games United drew at home last season, the fact that they scored 26 goals at home compared to Chelsea’s 55, that Everton has a better home record, it tells you everything. Converting the chances they do create is vital. Lukaku is under pressure to deliver.
But despite that doubt, I still think United are well placed. Bit by bit, Mourinho is changing United in his own image. He has bought himself a little time with those two trophies last season; not the kind of trophies United would usually be shouting about. But it just eases the pressure on him a little, unlike Pep Guardiola, who has won nothing in England. And he’s pointing United back in the right direction.
And I suspect most United fans will live with a tweak in the style if it puts them back in the title race; and I believe it will. In an extraordinarily open field, given the competitiveness of the top six, they have as good a chance of returning to the top than at any time since Alex Ferguson quit.
That’s not to say they will win it; it’s so close between them, Manchester City, Chelsea and maybe Arsenal and Liverpool, that it’s hard to call. But they will be in the mix. In fact, I think in a year or two he may have made enough further changes to have them challenging for the Champions League again.