Manchester United: Mourinho the right man at the right time?

The always polarising figure José Mourinho now has to share a city with old nemesis Pep Guardiola. The Portuguese and the Catalan will cross paths in the next months, but Mourinho’s true focus is on living down his personal nightmare at Chelsea and giving new heart to Manchester United.

The upcoming season could easily become the season of rebuilds. Chelsea are looking to wash the dirt off their shirts and get back on track under Antonio Conte. Liverpool are still full of hope that Jürgen Klopp can bring back glory to Anfield. Pep Guardiola is ready for a new adventure, as the Catalan wants to pursue soaring dreams with financial powerhouse Manchester City.

And then there are the Red Devils. Manchester United have experienced a rough few years after Sir Alex Ferguson called it a career and left his club under bare poles. David Moyes, the chosen one, couldn’t satisfy expectations, neither did Louis van Gaal. It is now José Mourinho, of all coaches, who bears the hopes of tens of millions of fans as well as an impatient front office. A man who, in Chelsea’s employ, fought hard battles against Manchester United, Mourinho knows the Premier League and his new club very well. But that doesn’t automatically mean he will succeed.

Given the rather defensive-minded approach he has shown at other clubs, it could be questionable whether the extrovert Portuguese is the right choice for Manchester United’s job. As opposed to previous milestones in his stellar career, he is not asked to simply stabilise a team and lead it to success no matter which way he chooses. Instead, Manchester United are in dire need of an overhaul.

(Photo by Barrington Coombs – The FA/The FA via Getty Images) /

Manchester United’s squad has been a mess ever since Ferguson decided to not recondition the machine. It was ludicrous that a rich club like Manchester United couldn’t figure out how to find the right playmaker in midfield for quite a while. If there was one positive effect of the Van Gaal era, the signings of the likes of Ander Herrera or Juan Mata have certainly helped to restructure, although most of the new players haven’t performed to expectations so far.

Still, Mourinho can’t complain about the quality of the squad. Plus, in the light of recent signings – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and Paul Pogba – Manchester United’s first XI can keep up with title contenders City, Chelsea and Arsenal. That said, doubts remain, caused by a look at Mourinho’s career.

The first few friendlies and the Community Shield encounter with Leicester City demonstrated that the 53-year-old has no desire of overthinking his tactical approach. Once again, he relies on the simple yet stable procedures of a 4-2-3-1 formation. There is nothing fancy about his system. If Guardiola is the philosopher, Mourinho is the engineer – which in no way is meant as an insult to either of them.

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Yet, what distinguishes Mourinho from Van Gaal? The Dutchman also preferred a customary formation with customary build-up plays and customary pressing approaches. Observing their friendlies against Galatasaray and Everton, Manchester United seemed to be overwhelmed when opponents pressured them early. The ball went deep from one side to the other, while both centre-midfielders struggled to get involved.

Wayne Rooney often dropped back in the left half-space with the intention to support the midfield. However, as Ibrahimović also tended to be positioned rather deep, Manchester United lacked a presence up front. Even if they were able to move the ball across the pitch, the Red Devils only occasionally broke through and created shots from behind the opposing back line.

So overall, Manchester United could struggle at both ends of the field and that impression was emphasised in United’s match against Leicester last Sunday, when Mourinho and his team won the first trophy of the season.

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The Guardian’s Michael Cox wrote in the aftermath that Ibrahimović’s “link play was not particularly impressive, but it was obvious he wanted to become part of United’s build-up play.” And he pointed out the disharmony between the Swede and Englishman. “Ibrahimović was dropping into the zone Rooney was occupying, and the latter showed few signs of bursting beyond his strike partner into goalscoring positions, prompting a couple of frustrated sighs between the duo when attempted passing combinations broke down.”

It is true, both alpha males in the Manchester United attack got in each other’s way. That said, it looked like Mourinho’s plan was to position both in the opposite half-spaces, which still caused a lack of presence near Leicester’s centre-backs and a lack of penetration in the final phase of plays, although Anthony Martial drifted towards the middle a few times. Thus, the first problem Mourinho has to solve is how he could harmonise his key attacking players. Maybe, a certain £93 million Frenchman could provide dynamism and make powerful sprints through the middle.

(Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images) /

The second problem results from the mistakes of previous seasons. Defensively, Manchester United have relied on a heavily man-orientated scheme so far. Mourinho is not known for progressive defensive approaches, but still he acknowledges the problem, while bluntly saying that he wants to switch from man-to-man to zonal coverage.

Mourinho: We're trying to switch to zonal marking & that's difficult after 2 years of man-to-man. We play zonal... that way we stay compact
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) August 7, 2016

In the first few matches under his guidance, the Red Devils used a deep press with Ibrahimović roaming up front and not threatening the build-up play. Rooney dropped back and marked an opposing centre-midfielder; others also covered particular opponents. So, while Manchester United had a narrow defence, as Mourinho wishes, the semi-man-to-man coverage limited their ability to create situations of immense local pressure.

Therefore, Mourinho’s plan to switch to a more zone-orientated defensive scheme should result in the right adjustment. A top team like Manchester United, which will have a significantly higher share of ball possession in most of the domestic games, has to focus on a versatile defence and the possibility to use intense pressing in order to remain the dominant side over the 90 minutes.

Next: Manchester United: Juan Mata better off at another club

While Mourinho couldn’t convince with his work in his second spell at Chelsea and has a history of rather simplistic defensive concepts, his statements show the awareness of what has to change in order to lead the Red Devils back to the top. The quality in every part of the team – from the goalkeeper to the striker department – is given. And from a tactical as well as a leadership standpoint the Portuguese head coach is probably the right man to put the pieces together.

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