3 reasons why Manchester United drew with Valencia

Modified Oct 03, 2018 06:51 GMT

Manchester United v Valencia - UEFA Champions League Group H — Yet another disappointing result

#1 A midfield trio of Nemanja Vidic, Marouane Fellaini and Paul Pogba doesn't work

It's clear as daylight that Mourinho does not trust his centre-backs. That is perhaps why he feels the need to overcompensate in defensive midfield and this has often stifled United's vigour going forward.

Having Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini running things from deep is like driving a car around with 2 flat tyres. Matic and Fellaini were extremely slow on the ball, almost often delaying crucial passes by 3 or 4 seconds, allowing the Valencia players to get back into position.

The sheer immobility in United's midfield also led to the growth in space between defence and midfield and against a better opposition, United would have suffered.

What's even more baffling was Mourinho's persistence in keeping the midfield undisturbed even as the game looked primed to finish 0-0. If the United gaffer is still trying to make a point to Woodward, he is writing a script to a story that was finished long time ago.

Right now, what United need is a dynamic midfield that can turn up the pace and take the game to the opposition. And the more defensive midfielders we see in their lineup, the worse it's going to be watching the Red Devils labour through games.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad