Manchester United finished their match against Southampton with an uneventful 0:0. The Reds final fixture of the year is a staple of everything currently wrong with their game.
When it comes to players, there is no I in a team, if you truly want to win. However, nobody said this rule had to apply to the big man on the bench. Supposedly, the one with all the answers.
Being the eternally disputed expert that he is, Jose Mourinho relishes in the fame of the man the public loves to hate. From his attitude with the press, to the locker room antics, Mou is the kind of man to surely leave you with an opinion.
He is also the kind of man who loves his defense. Known as the manager who simply “parks the Bus”, no matter where he goes.
United’s current standings come from a multitude of factors. One being Mourinho’s preferred playing style, often referred as the “Anti-Football”.
The Reds are playing far from the fan favorite attacking style, one of the most aesthetically pleasing to watch, and undoubtedly the key in actually winning, instead of getting used to the draws.
The second factor is cash. United was always known as a team that can splurge, as large sums are nothing new in major European leagues. However, what matters is who you spend it on and how can you use the players skills within the actual team.
With football being a team (duh) sport, the way a player is able to incorporate himself is far more important than the individual stats. This is why you don’t just collect footballers like stamps. This is also why United had the most expensive squad at the start of last season, with a whopping 718M euros.
In the race of who had more to spend, Real Madrid finished Second and City was third.
When it comes to United, most of these “bank breaking” players still tend to sit in, instead of actually playing, which brings us to the third factor – ego.
Mourinho’s “My way or the highway” attitude has chased away more than enough prospects and put the Pause to a few careers, including that of Iker Casillas while they were both in Real Madrid. Casillas was left on the bench for months which forced him out of Real and into Porto.
Mourinho eventually ended up back in England. First returning to Chelsea, then to a very troubled Manchester United. He was supposed to get things together, after the mess left by Moyes and Van Gaal.
Sadly for the Reds, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Instead, United is left waiting for the few match winners to recover from injuries, as they scrummage around the Top 5, hoping for less draws and more than one goal per game.