3 Mistakes that led to United losing the Manchester derby

#2 Playing three holding midfielders

Jose Mourinho went into ultra-defensive mode after henchman Paul Pogba's late withdrawal and played three holding midfielders- Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini on Sunday. In comparison, City played only one- Fernandinho. Their midfielders possessed a lot of goal threat and apart from Fellaini, none of United's central midfielders have been amongst the goals lately.

Nemanja Matic, with the horrendous run of form he is in, should have been dropped and Fred should have started instead. The latter played last weekend against Bournemouth and was extremely impressive in the way he was able to cut through defences and set up through balls for the attackers.

This mentality of Jose Mourinho's did not serve him well and all the central midfielders went on to have an ordinary game. Matic and Herrera, in particular, were extremely unimpressive.

About the author

Mohul is a senior football, cricket and Olympic Sports writer at Sportskeeda, and has been in the organisation for more than 6 years. Some of his best work includes 118 exclusive interviews with famous sports personalities, insider talk and transfer speculations. He has also covered the entirety of the 2023-24 ISL season, Kalinga Super Cup and 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League from the ground.

An MBA degree holder in Finance, Mohul is also a professional cricketer and is currently in the reserves for Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy team. He’s also played league football in Hyderabad.

His football interest sparked after watching countless Rahim League matches at the Gymkhana and supporting the State Bank of Hyderabad. He grew up hearing stories about the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim and his incredible football team of the 1960s, which had a big influence on him. He has admired Manchester United’s dominance in English and European football as well.

Tennis star Leander Paes, Olympic gold-medalist Abhinav Bindra, cricketing legend Rahul Dravid and football star Chinglensana Singh are Mohul’s favorite athletes. He is a staunch Hyderabad FC supporter, and Sahil Tavora’s 88th-minute equalizer in the 2021-22 ISL Cup final against Kerala Blasters is one of his favorite footballing moments. Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal in shooting at the 2008 Olympics also had a huge impact on Mohul.

In his work, he strives to write relevant, accurate and unbiased stories by conducting thorough research. When not working, Mohul enjoys reading books and listening to heavy metal and rock music.

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Edited by Abhinav Munshi