When you see the head, expect the tail. This old saying is what has found refuge in the minds of millions of Manchester United fans after their star-studded team lost to their ‘noisy neighbours,’ Manchester City at old Trafford last weekend.
A forlorn looking, often chest thumping Jose Mourinho seemed to have run out of tether to counter a well-greased Pep Guardiola side.
After demolishing Bournemouth, Southampton and Hull City in their opening matches, United were tipped to put Pep’s side to the sword, a prediction that went awfully wrong.
But what is likely to give Mourinho and his entire football discipleship gray hair, is the fact that one Paul Pogba failed to live to his promise. The lad cost Manchester United £89m (Sh12 billion), almost half of what it cost the Kenyan government to put up Thika Superhighway.
The dismal performance at home seems to lend credence to the fact that players arrive at Manchester United as dragon slayers, only to end up leaving as kittens. It’s only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Bertrand Bailly who have been slaying some dragons.
When you are the world’s most expensive footballer, poor performances in decisive games do not go down very well.
Pogba was a pale shadow of himself as Man City schooled United in the first-half, before United rallied after Zlatan’s brilliant strike, thanks to Manchester City’s goalkeeper Claudio Bravo’s mistake.
The former Juventus man — he who cost the Glazers water and firewood, making him the most expensive player to ever grace planet earth – knows all too well that when you become the world’s most expensive footballer, expectations of you go through the roof. And it is not long before the fans lose their devilish heads. Of course defender Daley Blind, new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard were all poor, but unfortunately for Pogba, neither of them cost £89 million.
One thing is clear, if Mourinho fails to get the best out of his players, the Glazers should as well forget about the title, and wait for next season.
Mkhitaryan, seems to be treading the same path his fellow Borrousia Dortmund import Sinji Kagawa took, the path to failure. Honestly, Mkhitaryan is a few games from being branded a flop.
Mourinho told the media that he almost substituted Mkhitaryan after 15 minutes, but feared the decision could have worked against the team.
The ‘Special One’ is also yet to get anything special from Anthony Martial who was snapped up by Louis van Gaal last summer for an initial £38 million fee. Martial looks jaded and has not registered a single goal or assist this season. He has moved from blowing hot and cold, to blowing nothing.
This probably informs Mourinho’s decision to leave him on the bench until the final 10 minutes of the derby game. The 20-year-old is out of the team and could be the latest man to fall victim to Jose Mourinho’s style after Ashley Young and Memphis Depay. With other title rivals Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea looking more organised and getting results, Mourinho must act fast or forget about the title.
The Portuguese must bring back Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Ander Herera to the starting squad. The fact that United did not struggle in the first three league matches does not make Daley Blind a good centre-half and Maroune Fellaini a good holding midfielder.
Jose must also use his Portuguese head to find the best role for Pogba, and stop milking Zlatan dry this early.
