MANCHESTER UNITED ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

 

 Back to Positive football. Back to our very best. Out of the  turmoil  and into better football. Those were some of words that some people used to describe Manchester United recent performances these past two weeks, after a ragged victory against Huddersfield in the FA CUP last two Saturday followed by a goalless draw against FC Sevilla in Champions League, the clubs fan base was starting the get a little concerned with manchester united's team performance.  The english media in the past few weeks even went as far as constantly criticizing one of Manchester United's best player, Paul Pogba, as a very big reason why the clubs success rate has been on the low percentage this past few week. The negative press all came to an end last Sunday when Mourinho outsmarted his visiting old team Chelsea after the Blues made their way into Old Trafford, the whole talk around Manchester United before Sunday was, mostly, about the situation surrounding the clubs manager Jose Mourinho and one of Manchester United's players Paul Pogba. Pogba and Mourinho had been rumoured to have had a huge falling out after the manager had chosen not to allow Pogba operate from his favorite attacking position.

                                                                                          IMAGE FROM LACIB.NET

Instead of an attacking position, Mourinho had elected to partner the french man and Nemanja Matic as a defensive midfield duo to provide cover for Manchester United's defence. Although the managers strategy has successfully limited the amount of offensive pressure, the red devils sustained from the hands of opponents. The strategy, however, had created an invisible shackling effect on Paul Pogba's offensive capabilities and these negative effects were clearly limiting the french superstar to properly assist the club with winning football games with all his qualities. 
                                                                                  
                                                               

           The situation of not finding the balance between playing poor football with good result  and playing good football with poor results was rightfully eliminated this past Sunday with Mourinho setting his squad up well, allowing his players play  in each players most comfortable position and the result was absolutely fantastic. The free roaming strategy allows players like Martial, Sanchez, Pogba, Lingard, Lukaku and even Mctommyner to be a bit more expansive and creative with their football which creates chances to score goal in the opponents defence. That is exactly the type of football that will keep fans high spirited and also keep the players eager to practice more, help the players maintain their good football and keep the club's performance level from dropping in the future.

                                               RonCan,Caughtoffside.com(SEP,27.2017).

              The big question which has been bubbling around my head ever since last weekend's big victory over chelsea is this:Why Now? Why have we not been able to see this Manchester United team since the first week of January? “ We can only win games with that attitude!” these were mourinho’s words during the interview after the successful victory over chelsea and who can argue with the managers words?.  Before Sunday's victory had been struggling to play expansive, attractive football for most of the current season and that slow, compact football all through the season and this style of football allowed opponents to over power Manchester United with quick counter attacks and quick effective passes through Manchester United's defence time and time again. So why did the club just decide to start playing this style of football now that the English Premier League is half way done this season? Answers to all these questions are simple: Mourinho just wanted to wear the other teams down, anyone who has watched the Premier League will notice right from the bat that most successful teams play with speed, quick skill, precision and intensity. Almost every club in the Premier league have this quality, the positive part of using quickness, precision is that it can lead to goals and victories but the negative part is that the strategy can live any team vulnerable  in the defence and prone to a counter attack. 

      This is where Mourinho’s brilliance came to play on Sunday. After Chelsea to the lead on Sunday, the blues were expecting Manchester United to keep playing with their usual slow and steady strategy and try to break chelsea’s defence down patiently but Manchester United did the exact opposite. United kept moving the ball around the field and Manchester United players kept switching positions with each other that Chelsea found marking Manchester United close to impossible for the rest of the game which lead to United grabbing an equalizer and the eventual winner later in the game. With at least eight games to go in the Premier League Mourinho has every reason to expect good, quality football for the rest of the season, we are talking about a team with quality players like Anthony Martial who can open any opponents defence up with his quick feet and skill. Martial to be totally honest had not been having the best of season but after the Chelsea game, Matial still seems to be struggling a bit but with his performance in the game signs point to Martial turning the corner and returning to his best form. It was not just about Martial, Pogba was absolutely great with his wing play. Pogba who also had been having a tough time with his football this past couple of weeks saw his football and confidence take a boost last weekend as the french man was also allowed to free roam and get involved with manchester United offence. The expectation is that Paul pogba is being moulded to be the future leader of the club and it looks like Pogba is starting to show that he is on his way to living up to the expectations. It was not just these two players, Lukaku as usual was an absolute power house. Lukaku held up the ball, made runs to the wing to pull the Chelsea defenders away allowing Manchester United's wingers and Pogba to find shooting opportunities to taste Courtois as much as possible. Adding the fact that the big belgium was all work, causing incredible discomfort to the Chelsea defence all game. The belgium capped his performance with a goal and a quality assist for Lingard to grab the game winner. Needless to say, if Lukaku had not already sealed his name in the hearts of Manchester United fans, he certainly has done so after his performance last weekend. The entire team played with so much quality and the fans responded with appreciation, enthusiasm, joy and will be looking forward to more of the same great performances in the future.

             In conclusion, the situation inside Old Trafford has definitely turned around in only a matter weeks. Manchester United team had been suffering with their performance this past two months at the most. The media had been circling Manchester United football club all season so much negative news like how the acquisition of Pogba was a burst or how Martial was unhappy with the acquisition of Alexis Sanchez due to the fact that both Martial and Sanchez play the same position and the fans were starting to get worried that this might be another season of boring football with no success in terms of trophies. But Mourinho seems to have discovered the right form or the right style of play that puts Manchester United back as a serious contender in all competition. Manchester United have always been a club to consider when trophies are up for grab and for the past few seasons the club have not been playing on top gear but after Sundays game, the question on everyone's mind is: Was the performance a fluke or something to regularly expect? Mourinho said the quest for the team coming into the game was “finding the right balance, once we find the right balance we go from there.” Manchester United have definitely found the right balance and style to compliment their football, now it’s all about maintaining that level of performance consistently. There’s a few games till the end of the season and the fans will be hoping that means opportunities  Manchester United can finish strong and secure a couple of trophies at the finish line.