MOURINHO DROPS BOMBSHELL
Jose hits out at own stars for not playing through pain barrier
SO even when Manchester United win, it seems they lose. This was a victory both convincing and thoroughly deserved. The scoreline did not reflect their dominance over a wretched Swansea team.
There was a super goal from Paul Pogba, two from the hitherto barren Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a fine performance from Wayne Rooney. So three points and some ground made up on Arsenal and Manchester City at least.
All good? no, not quite. enter manager Jose Mourinho with a metaphorical hand grenade. Some of his players are not prepared to play through pain, he said. They are not a good fit for his culture, for the Manchester United culture. Stand back and watch it blow.
It would appear Mourinho was talking about defenders Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw. Smalling, who played in the 4-0 defeat by Chelsea recently after two painkilling injections in his foot. Shaw, not long recovered from a broken leg.
Against that background, and even by Mourinho’s own standards, these were extraordinary words. They were words that meant by the time the United bus headed out of Swansea last night, another fire was burning right in the heart of United’s season, a fire started deliberately by their manager.
People will not now talk about this game, they will talk about this. From Mourinho it is a tactic fraught with danger. At Chelsea last time round, Mourinho took on his players and lost. What is he endeavouring to achieve this time?
What is clear is that the United manager is reaching some conclusions about life at Old Trafford. After 11 Premier League games and a handful of europa League fixtures, he has obviously seen too many things he does not like.
Where he goes from here will, as always, be dictated largely by results but last night he maybe missed a trick.
This was actually one of his better days as United manager. Despite an afternoon spent in the stands courtesy of recent issues with the FA, Mourinho (below) picked a perfect team for what could have been a difficult game.
His side responded with a disciplined, professional performance. There was something to build on, or so it seemed. Instead he has started to remove bricks from his squad’s foundations.
Swansea coach Bob Bradley will be relieved at least. In South Wales the hopeless nature of his team’s performance will be picked over. It is one point from four games on his watch. But in a wider context, his team’s part in what happened at the Liberty Stadium will sink to sub- plot level. Certainly the American will hope so.
Watching Swansea, in the first half particularly, explained completely Mourinho’s team selection. no pace, just bodies. Big bodies.
Swansea are a physically small team lacking in fundamental fight so this United team was able to impose itself with ease. With that came territory and after that came the kind of precise, controlled football that players of this calibre are able to play if given sufficient time and space by the opposition.
Maybe this sounds like faint praise. It shouldn’t do because it isn’t.
United were given a clear plan by their manager and executed it perfectly. That is how you win a match, especially when you are short on form and inspiration yourselves.
Pogba scored an excellent early goal and Ibrahimovic his first two in the Premier League since early September. There could have been others, too. Rooney, meanwhile, enjoyed his best game for a long time while Michael Carrick was also excellent. Oddly, this was Carrick’s first Premier League start this season. Pogba’s goal was brilliant, a sizzling volley with his right foot from the edge of the area in the 15th minute. The strike was so pure that the ball hardly even rotated. Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea goal may have done better with United’s second goal but with the first he had no chance at all. It was a goal that ended the contest, too. Swansea had nothing to offer. no bravery, no honesty, no application. To all intent and purposes they did not exist. That was not United’s problem and they eased forward. They were short on flair at times but were long on common sense and direction. After Thursday’s europe League horror against Fenerbahce in Istanbul, that was what was required and when Swansea failed dismally to close down Ibrahimovic in the 22nd minute the Swede’s low shot from 18 yards was too strong for Fabianski’s right hand.
Ibrahimovic was to score again before the break. This time the challenge from Angel Rangel was too weak to trouble him as he moved on to Rooney’s neat pass. Subsequently he had all the time in the world to beat the Swansea goalkeeper.
With so long still to go, humiliation beckoned for Swansea. They would have deserved it, too. But in an atmosphere of such compliancy United could not maintain their levels and Swansea actually managed to score with a header from Mike van der Hoorn with 20 minutes of the game remaining.
There was the time for a comeback but seemingly not the will. Swansea were booed off at the end and it is unlikely to be the last time.
As for United, a day that went well ended strangely. Mourinho seemed to want to say more before a United press official ushered him away. For once, he may be glad of that.