“Attack. Attack. Attack.”
Twice in the space of four days, the Manchester United fans urged Jose Mourinho’s team to embrace an ethos that had served the club so well over the previous two and a half decades, and back beyond the Alex Ferguson era.
A close friend of mine spoke to me the day after he had taken his father to Old Trafford to see United take on Liverpool. It was looking like the best birthday present in recent memory for about 35 minutes. United carved up Liverpool and went 2-0 ahead, both goals coming from Marcus Rashford. It should have been 3-0 but Juan Mata narrowly missed with a spectacular volley.
Old Trafford was buzzing. A win would leave United 13 points back from Manchester City but the team was finally flexing some muscles and expressing itself.
And then Mourinho’s instinct kicked in. Liverpool were always going to come roaring out in the second half but United dropped back and gifted them possession. What followed was a grim affair.
Eric Bailly scored an own goal after 69 minutes but United packed their box and held firm. 14 efforts on goal for the visitors (United had two) and 68% possession but David De Gea only had two saves to make. It was unpleasant viewing, it lacked ambition and it got ugly at times but the result went in United’s favour, 2-1.
It was United of old lapsing back to United of new. My friend said it was the most depressing win over Liverpool he had ever seen.
Paul Pogba, who missed the game with an injury, didn’t seem to care. Neither did Jose.
Credit: BBCOdd to think that moment of genuine joy was just nine months, and one World Cup win, ago.
Asked if the result, more so than the performance, would buoy his side, Mourinho replied, “The human brain is a complex thing.”
So it would prove. Under Mourinho, momentum was a real issue for United. A last-gasp winner would often be followed by a scoreless draw. Victory over close rivals would be followed by a loss against lesser lights. Beating Juventus would be followed by getting outclassed by Man City.
It was always back to square one. Reproachment and fear, and loathing, never far away.
Four days after beating Liverpool, United were back at Old Trafford to take on a Sevilla side that were well out of touch in La Liga. A team that had not won their domestic league for 71 years (and still counting). The sort of side United under Ferguson would tear into from the first whistle.
0-0 from the first leg, this one was teed up for them. Rashford, Lukaku and the recently acquired Alexis Sanchez all started. For all the doubters about Mourinho being the right man for the job, this was the night to prove he had lost none of his old skills for getting his side through a must-win game.
Mourinho had taken Porto and Inter Milan to Champions League glory and had been lauded for tactics that had stumped Ajax in the Europa League final the previous season.
Sevilla were handy but they were no great shakes. United needed simply to go at them like they had done against Sevilla but anxiousness over conceding a costly away goal seemed to hobble them. Over the course of the game, Sevilla had 21 pops at the United goal (six on target). The hosts had 17 attempts but only three made the goalkeeper work.
Supporters kept waiting for United to get their act together and they were vocal in urging them on that night, but they played as if stupified.
Reporting in The Telegraph, Sam Wallace wrote about United struggling to break free of the ‘plunder-and-lockdown’ approach instilled in them by their manager. He stated:
“But what about the nights like these when the stage is set for United to play as United are supposed to play at home? You could make a case for defending against the free-scoring Liverpool on Saturday but there was no justification to play with the handbrake on against a spirited but mediocre Sevilla side who United could have overwhelmed if only they knew how.”
As each minute dragged on, the threat of the away goal loomed larger. Steven N’zonzi was bossing it in midfield so Mourinho brought on Pogba to little effect.
Yassim Ben Yedder – a French futsal international – was sprung from the bench and delivered the fatal blows in quick succession. Two goals in four minutes and United were in a chasm.
On came Juan Mata and Anthony Martial, for Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia, while Sanchez was allowed to remain on and shuffle uselessly about. Lukaku gave fans hope with an 82nd minute goal but Ben Yedder should have a had a hat-trick before the game was out and the final whistle sounded.
Along with getting dumped out in the semis by Dortmund in 1997 and Monaco (in the quarters) the year after, this was as deflating as it came. A reminder, perhaps, that the Ferguson era was not all sweetness and 4-1 wins, but just as bleak.
A lesser team had come to Old Trafford and got the job done. Mourinho had been on the away bench – and sprinting away from it – on a couple of occasions.
Reminding United fans about their past failures, that night, was not his wisest mood but he had an ego to look after. In the post-match press briefing, he proclaimed:
“I’ve sat in this chair twice before, with Porto – Man Utd out, with Real Madrid – Man Utd out, so this is nothing new for this football club.”
Cheers.
That game, and that performance, was the beginning of the end for Mourinho. City were streets ahead in the league but many fans assured themselves United had a great chance in the Champions League. They were dumped out at the Last 16 and no-one really missed them.
Their football has been equally bad since that wretched Tuesday night in March. They are a genuinely hard team to watch playing football now.
Mourinho did not have the full backing of his board in the summer – see transfers of Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant – and he lost many of his players over the past few months.
There was only final spasm of defiance when United rallied to beat Juventus and José cupped his ears in pantomime villain style.
One last party spoiled.
It is hard to see where he will end up next, now that United have got shot. International management with Portugal could be a way to restore some lustre but he seems to have lost the joy a long time ago.
