After such a promising start, it’s all crashed and burned very quickly. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. But three losses in a row? That’s not acceptable at United. Not by a long shot.
Watford 3, United 1. Wow. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Jose the saviour was meant to fix everything, with the help of Zlatan and Pogba of course. For anyone who saw the game, the result hardly flattered Watford either. They were clearly the better team and probably could or should have score more, Troy Deeney’s bizarre early miss the stand out opportunity.
Pogba is clearly playing far too deep and Rooney is barely playing at all. Not even golden boy Rashford (despite his goal) could save United this time. And yet Mourinho reverts to type by blaming the standard of refereeing and his own team’s misfortune for the result. No way Jose, this was a Poor performance based around poor positional selection. You and your team are the contributing factors here. That deflection to referees and The Gods is not going to cut it anymore.
Three losses is a row? That’s David Moyes era stuff (or worse), and yet the same old problems continue to resurface. There are only so many times that United can rely on certain brilliant individuals to get by, and when those individuals don’t fire – it’s the same Man U we saw under both Moyes and Van Gaal.
It’s a squad issue, but where to start. So many questions. What’s happened to Anthony Martial? Is Rooney finished? Why is Pogba not given more of an opportunity to influence the result? On a scale of poor to very poor, just how bad is the defence? Too many passengers and too much inconsistency from week to week, game to game. The signs aren’t great, there is clearly (still) a significant gap between United and the best teams in the league. So at this point would Jose take a 4th place finish if offered it now? The answer to that seems rather obvious, when less than two weeks ago it was a race for the title. Amazing transformation.
Speaking of amazing transformations, what about Watford? 4-2 over West Ham (although that result doesn’t look so flattering now) and 3-1 over Manchester United! Etienne Capoue has transformed into what we thought Paul Pogba was, and Troy Deeney just shows so much guts and determination to will his team across the line. What an incredible team to watch and what rousing performances they have put on in the last two league games.
Watford are heading in the right direction under Walter Mazzarri, but where is United heading? The pressure is already firmly on Mourinho, and he needs this squad to perform for him. The club and supporters are desperate for it to. Hosting champions Leicester in the early kick off next Saturday, now that will be truly fascinating. How will this poor defensive unit cope with the Foxes’ counter attacks, and has Mourinho the answers to foil Ranieri’s tried and trusted tactics? The answers can’t come quick enough.
