Manchester United got the result they wanted against Saint-Etienne on Wednesday. However, Jose Mourinho might be about to pay the price for the ill-advised team he fielded for the game.
Manchester United beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 in France to advance to the next round of the Europa League. The win didn’t come without a price, however, with Jose Mourinho’s team picking up some key injuries and suspensions in the process.
Mourinho and the team got the result they wanted. Job done. But surely there was an easier way, a safer way, to go about the situation? The United boss named the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Paul Pogba and Eric Bailly in his starting XI.
That was despite United already being 3-0 up from the first leg at Old Trafford. The result was not only a win for the club, but also injuries to Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick, and a red card for Bailly which will now see him miss the first leg of United’s tie in the next round.
Not to mention 90 minutes of game time into the legs of 35-year-old Ibrahimovich and Pogba. And for what? With a 3-0 lead, Ibrahimovich could have stayed at home and watched on TV. Pogba and Mkhitaryan, too.
A front line of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata could have easily done this job. A midfield comprised of Marouane Fellaini and Bastian Schweinsteiger would have sufficed in midfield.
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This is, with due respect, Saint-Etienne. A solid defensive team who lack goals themselves week in, week out in Ligue 1. Was Mourinho worried about them scoring four against United? Forcing United’s attacking players to match them and fire back? Surely not.
It was foolish to play the XI he did and now, unfortunately, the players will pay the price. Sadly, Mkhitaryan and Carrick are likely to miss the EFL Cup final on Sunday against Southampton. Oh yeah, that’s right, the team has a cup final on Sunday. That is where Mourinho’s priority really should have been.
The Manchester United boss spoke in recent weeks about the torrid fixture list his team had coming up. So, in the middle of this torrid fixture list, and with a chance to rest some key/older players, he chooses not to.
This run of fixtures was always about managing the squad, and Mourinho did that poorly on Wednesday. Some key players are now either injured or suspended, whilst some others have played 90 minutes for, seemingly, no real reason other than Mourinho being too cautious.
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Oh, and they also played almost 30 minutes with just 10 men, too. Crazy. Mourinho and his team have been on a roll lately and another win will obviously not hurt that. But winning the away game against Saint-Etienne was not worth the price United may now pay.