Jose’s holiday set to get even worse
JOSE MOURINHO has complained about virtually everything recently and he may have a fresh reason to moan at Goodison Park today.
Defeat to Everton will leave Manchester United with their worst Christmas points return of the Premier League era.
They have only three so far from a trio of frustrating draws and are in danger of failing to beat the meagre four-point haul they achieved from four festive games under Louis van Gaal in 2015-16.
And the problems are piling up for Mourinho. Romelu Lukaku will miss the return to his former club after suffering concussion in a clash of heads with Southampton’s Wesley Hoedt, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s troubled return from a knee injury means he will miss another month.
And Ashley Young is banned for three games after accepting a charge by the FA for elbowing Dusan Tadic.
On top of all that, too many of United’s players are underperforming. Paul Pogba needs to have a greater impact on games, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s confidence has been shot by Mourinho’s criticism and Marcus Rashford, who came on for Lukaku, showed why his manager does not feel he is ready to be a regular centre forward.
United have dropped nine points out of the past 18 and their season is in danger of being derailed unless Mourinho can succeed in bringing in long-term target Antoine Griezmann – or another striker – in this month’s transfer window.
Phil Jones admits the title is out of reach and the concern now is securing a top-four place, with Chelsea leapfrogging them into second and Liverpool and Tottenham improving.
“It’s obvious if you look at the table,” Jones said. “It’s frustrating for us, frustrating for the fans of course and everyone involved but there’s no point sitting here and sulking about it. We haven’t been beaten but it feels like a defeat.”
Pogba said: “Something has to change if we are to win. Something is missing. We have to wake up. It’s a frustrating moment. We have to lift our heads up and go back and win.”
After complaining about the fans, the fixture scheduling GRIM TIDINGS: Mourinho has yet to see his team win over the Christmas spell
MANCHESTER UNITED
and not being able to compete with City’s spending, Mourinho’s latest gripe is referees.
Craig Pawson failed to award a penalty after Maya Yoshida had clearly handled but United had only themselves to blame for some poor final passes and several missed chances. Mourinho refused to criticise his players because he claims they are doing their best.
“We need to improve results but not performances,” he said.
But it certainly does not look that way to the fans who jeered the team off at the end, while club legend Paul Scholes accused the players of “underperforming”.
Lukaku had sent an unchallenged header over the bar before he was taken off on a stretcher, Rashford was guilty of missing several chances, Juan Mata had a shot saved and Nemanja Matic’s longrange efforts underlined why his goals record is so poor.
United’s frustration was summed up when Pogba, in an offside position but not impacting on play, applied a touch to Matic’s goalbound shot and it was disallowed. Had he left it, the goal would have been given.
But goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, replacing Fraser Forster who was dropped after 76 consecutive Premier League games, was hardly overworked because of United’s inefficiencies and the fact that Saints were transformed from the team that lost so tamely to Tottenham on Boxing Day. In fact David De Gea was forced to make the two outstanding saves of the game, first to deny James WardProwse and then Shane Long.
Tadic said: “We deserved a point. We showed great character and in some moments we could have
taken three points.”
MAN UTD (4-2-3-1):