A 3-1 win over Northampton Town in the League Cup on Wednesday prevented a fourth straight defeat, but it was not an entirely convincing United performance against the third-tier outfit. Jose Mourinho and his United side have been the subject of many negative stories over the past few days, which again hits out at another manager in the limelight, which is a bit petty by the media who seem to use United as a meal ticket.
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‘After a game I would always try to avoid criticising the players, ‘ Ferguson said in 2013.
“But the type of the player I want to be now is different to the type of player I wanted to be then”. Shame they did not get more this evening.
But the paper claims Mourinho is confident the players will successfully adapt to his style of play though, given time.
The new United boss criticised left-back Luke Shaw for Watford’s second goal in the 3-1 defeat at Vicarage Road last weekend, but does understand the full-backs are being asked to do the opposite of what was required of them by Van Gaal.
Mourinho could not stand accused of failing to give Rooney an opportunity if he now opts to drop the England forward but his captain’s deployment in a midfield role against Watford contrasted starkly with the manager’s insistence in July that the player would “never be a No 6 or No 8” under him.
United’s players were reportedly ‘shocked’ by Mourinho’s treatment of Shaw – who had been excellent all game – in the aftermath.
United have lost their last three games in all competitions following defeats by derby rivals Manchester City, Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord and Walter Mazzarri’s Watford side over the past week or so.
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Carrick may finally get another run out against Northampton tonight but Mourinho’s failure to settle on a system that maximises Pogba’s abilities has raised eyebrows with the France midfielder’s deployment predominantly in a midfield pairing with Marouane Fellaini yet to convince.
