Rio blast for Jose
Jose claimed misfiring Reds would be in the top four by the New Year but that may backfire as on this evidence his unhappy, lacklustre, disjointed team look beyond hope
ONE game in and already Jose Mourinho’s top-four gamble is in danger of backfiring.
Mourinho gave it large before this match, declaring confidently Manchester United would be in the Champions League places by the end of next month.
Not on the damning evidence of this performance, Jose, which was disjointed, anaemic and downright woeful.
Based on this display, Theresa May is more likely to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, holding hands with Jacob Rees-Mogg, than the Reds are to finish in the top four.
Mourinho (with Andros Townsend, right) has invited more pressure on himself with his bold top-four prediction.
United sacked Louis van Gaal because he missed out on Champions League football and the Portuguese has put his neck in the noose.
His growing number of critics in the stands, who jammed 5 Live’s 606 phonein and MUTV after the game, will use this as a stick with which to beat him if he fails to deliver.
The United boss probably knows this and could not have been more gloomy as he sifted through the debris of an unacceptable performance.
“Of course, I’m frustrated because it was a bad result,” he said. “I would say a very bad result. It is not a point, it is two points lost.
“The objective was we had eight matches until the end of December to recover our position, to get points, to shorten the distance, to get close to the top four – but in the end we lost two points.”
Chris Smalling was just as downcast and claimed the draw felt like a defeat.
“We knew the period we had all the way until Christmas and there were so many home games that three points had to be a must,” said the defender. “So whether it had been one point or no points, it might as well have been a loss.”
As bad as Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, who has extended his goal drought to 11 games, were, the hosts were poor all over the pitch. Nemanja Matic was slow, Jesse Lingard wasteful, Juan Mata anonymous, Anthony Martial ineffectual, Alexis Sanchez dreadful and Marcus Rashford quiet. Despite United’s wealth of attacking talent, Victor Lindelof and David De Gea were their only two decent performers. Mourinho
MOURINHO’S MUST-WIN MATCHES Jose’s eight games to get back in the top four Nov 24 United 0 Palace 0 Dec 1 Southampton (a) Dec 5 Arsenal (h)
Dec 8 Fulham (h)
Dec 16 Liverpool (a)
Dec 22 Cardiff (a)
Dec 26 Huddersfield (h) Dec 30 Bournemouth (h) MAN UTD: CRYSTAL PALACE: REF: accused his players of lacking “heart” and felt they went too easy on Crystal Palace.
“I think when you play to win matches, you don’t stop until you win,” he said. “We were playing well, but gave them periods of time, periods during the first and second half, periods to breathe and feel that they were in control.”
The Eagles had more shots than United and might have recorded their first league win at Old Trafford since 1989 had Patrick van Aanholt and Townsend not missed great chances on the break (left).
The game also highlighted the divisions at Old Trafford and Mourinho handed Matteo Darmian, whom he spent the summer trying to offload, his first appearance since the start of the season because he is still sore at Antonio Valencia.
Club captain Valencia has not played for United since liking a social media post calling for Mourinho’s head in September and the Portuguese has clearly not forgotten that.
United fans also remember things and they can recall they have not started a league campaign as badly as this since 1990.
That proved to be the darkest hour before the dawn of a golden age for United. It is impossible to see this period as the prelude to another such era. ATT: FROM BACK PAGE back. Martial (22), Rashford (21) and Lingard (25) were poor against Crystal Palace and Ferdinand says Mourinho’s criticisms will demotivate them, as well as Shaw (23), who did not play.
“When he’s hammering four or five of the young players at the club, saying their mentality isn’t right, what do you expect?” the United great told BT Sport.
“Do you expect to have players on your side or do you expect your players to go, ‘Hold on a minute, my manager is hammering me in public again’?
“I don’t think you’re going to get productivity out of those kind of comments. I don’t think it’s proactive for the club.
“What he’s said might be true and he’s got the right to say that.
“But I think (he should do it) behind closed doors, in the changing room – embarrass them in front of the team.
“You don’t get positivity doing that publicly.”
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