Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were regarded as the focus of Jose Mourinho’s ire following the 1-0 defeat to Brighton last time out and the Manchester United manager did indeed drop both for the visit to West Ham on Thursday. They were two of eight changes. But even in their absence, United continued to lack fluency and fire at the London Stadium.
Whether Mourinho will be too concerned about that is unclear. In his pre-match interview, when asked what he was hoping for with his team selection, he replied: “A point.” It was in reference to the one needed for United to mathematically secure second spot in the Premier League this season and that is duly what United got with their goalless draw.
Mourinho says his side tried to win the match but was happy with a point
But what else will Mourinho have on his mind after this result? Here, we pick out three talking points following United’s penultimate fixture of the Premier League season…
Goals lacking without Lukaku?
Romelu Lukaku’s 12 goals since the turn of the year represents a good return from United’s striker but he has not featured since going off injured with his team a goal up against Arsenal last month. In the two games that United have played without him since then, away to Brighton and now West Ham, they have failed to find a single goal.
“It is not really what you expect from Manchester United in terms of pushing it going forwards,” Teddy Sheringham told Sky Sports. After Rashford failed to impress on the south coast, this time it was Alexis Sanchez’s turn to deputise but it was no great success either. Mourinho favours a reference point up top and, without Lukaku, that’s a problem.
“Why does he come back so deep all the time?” asked Gary Neville on co-commentary for Sky Sports. “He plays there far too often since he has come to United. He has got to beat 10 players there to get to the goal. He is just making it difficult for himself and I am not quite sure why he has got into the rut of coming so deep and playing as a midfield player.”
Is the blend in midfield right?
With Sanchez helping out, United saw plenty of the ball in the middle of the pitch with Ander Herrera having 131 touches of the ball and completing 104 passes. The Spaniard’s inclusion alongside Scott McTominay gave Paul Pogba the freedom that he so often craves and the star man was able to get forward more, but there was still something lacking in the United midfield.
“That’s the one thing I would say watching this Manchester United team this season,” said Neville. “The rhythm, passing and quality through midfield has not been anywhere near good enough. Herrera isn’t that type of player. Nemanja Matic isn’t that type of player. Pogba has been too inconsistent.”
He added: “They have got to look to thread it through into the front players. Playing the easy pass wide to the full-back is exactly what the opposition want, particularly when they are out of shape. They haven’t got anyone who can beat a man or be inventive and break the lines. I am sure, for Jose Mourinho, central midfield will be a priority in the summer.”
Back three against Chelsea?
Mourinho went back to the back-three for this game and it worked well defensively as United restricted West Ham to only two shots on target. Perhaps that was with next week’s FA Cup final against Chelsea in mind. “I was thinking in the first half, what is Jose Mourinho getting out of this team selection,” said Neville.
“I can think of managers who would be building towards the big game that’s coming up next week and he might have that at the back of his mind. He has done something similar against Eden Hazard before at Stamford Bridge where Phil Jones kept going in to mark from a back-three position. So he could be thinking that.”
Chris Smalling, speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, said: “We have played it a few times earlier in the season but had not played it for a little while. I think it shows that we can play both formations. You never know what opposition we are going to come up against and if we have got the option to play a few formations then it is up our sleeve.”
United may have options. But Mourinho is still searching for the right one.
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Sourse: skysports.com
