5 things that went wrong for Manchester United

#2 Mourinho’s big-game tactics haven’t been good enough

Mourinho has been often criticized for his approach to big games

Jose Mourinho is still one of the best managers around and one of the best at bringing the best out of his players – as is the case with Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Phil Jones. The Portuguese manager’s tactics on some occasions this season, however – especially in the big games, has left a lot to be desired.

The goalless draw against Liverpool is a very good example of this. Prior to that game the Red Devils were flying in the league but the United boss opted for a defensive setup at Anfield hoping to nick a goal on the counter this obviously it did not materialize and it kick-started a period of decline for his team as they failed to pick themselves up immediately, succumbing to a shock 2-1 defeat against Huddersfield in their next Premier League game.

Since their stalemate at Liverpool, Manchester United just hasn’t reached the same heights as their first games of the season. The manager nonetheless continued with this style in other big games with varying degrees of success – with losses to Chelsea and Manchester City highlighting the flaws in the manager’s tactics.

Even in the big games where the Old Trafford club has been victorious this season, there were elements of good fortune as those flaws were brought to the fore again, none more so than in their 3-1 victory against Arsenal at the Emirates; a game where goalkeeper David De Gea made a league record 14 saves as his team backed off after taking a 2 goal lead.