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After a rollicking start to the 2017/18 season, Manchester United slowed down in the last few weeks and are now finding it hard to get back to winning ways. Jose Mourinho is facing a tough set of fixtures ahead and United are already 8 points behind unbeaten Manchester City and can't afford to lose further ground.
On the brighter side, Mourinho will have the services of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Newcastle United this weekend. United's problem has been their torrid form in front of goal and the return of these 2 will be a shot in the arm for Mourinho. He is close to having his best United XI and the next few weeks could decide the outcome of the title race.
Let's look at the 5 ways in which Mourinho can revive the Red Devils' fortunes this season.
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#5 Play both Zlatan and Lukaku as forwards
Jose Mourinho received a great news ahead of the Newcastle game as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba are back in training from their long term injuries. This could not have come at a better time for Mourinho and United.
Mourinho has so far played with a solitary striker but that could change with the return of Ibrahimovic. United have struggled to find the back of the net in the last few weeks and Ibrahimovic's inclusion will definitely address the situation that to an extent. But United have to be more ruthless and clinical if they are to challenge neighbors Manchester City for the title.
Ibrahimovic linked up well with Rashford last season and he can forge a similar partnership with Lukaku. It will take some pressure off the Belgian and he will get less attention because of the presence of super swede.
Zlatan can hold the ball well and can pick some beautiful balls for Lukaku, which was lacking thus far at United. The Red Devils will have more avenues to score goals than depending solely on the abilities of Lukaku. Playing both strikers will stretch the opponents defense and create pockets of space for players like Pogba and Rashford to chip in with important goals.
#4 Drop Mkhitaryan and Mata from starting XI
Regarded as one of the most creative players in Europe, Mkhitaryan is having a torrid time at Manchester United this season. He started the season well with 5 assists from 3 games but faded off completely after that.
Fair to say, Mkhitaryan never reached the top of his game at Old Trafford. We have seen glimpses of what he can do but he failed to do that on a consistent basis and did not create the impact many expected him to. He may have to do a lot more to deserve his place as United's no.10.
Another player who failed Mourinho this season was Juan Mata. Mourinho deployed him on the right of a 3-man midfield but Mata has failed to impress so far this season. His pace was down and creativity vanished.
In 11 appearances for United this season, Mata failed to conjure a single assist and all he can show was the solitary goal he scored against relegation battlers Crystal palace. With Martial and Lingard in the squad, Mata is out of contention for a place in Mourinho's XI at the moment.
#3 Deploy Rashford on the right wing and Martial on the left wing
United's trouble so far this season have been their inability to break down opponent's back line. They struggled a lot when teams sit back and play a defensive game.
Except for Marcus Rashford, there is no pace in this United line up, which lead them to make more horizontal passes than vertical ones. Jose Mourinho was reluctant to use Rashford and Martial together and always leaves one of them on the bench. But he needs to revisit that strategy very soon if United wants to change their fortunes.
Rashford on the right and Martial on the left will allow United to attack from both flanks and both of them deserve to start for United, given their performances so far this season. Both combined, have 10 goals and 7 assists so far this season and have been equally impressive.
Martial has the skill, pace and trickery that United are missing this season and starting both of them along with Lukaka and Ibrahimovic upfront seems like a mouthwatering proposition. This will give United a multidimensional attacking option, making it hard to defend against.
#2 Pogba as CAM & Matic as a lone DM
With the arrival of Matic, Mourinho has the flexibility to play Pogba up the pitch and in 5 games he played so far this season, he scored twice and assisted 2 more from a similar role. Pogba can be a good attacking asset than a defensive one.
Pogba has the ability to boss the game and has an excellent understanding with Zlatan which we witnessed last season. His link up play with Lukaku was exceptional in the few games they played together and Mourinho needs to recreate that magic by playing Pogba a little further up the pitch.
Matic will provide the defensive cover that Mourinho needs and United can play free flowing football with Pogba wrecking havoc in the opponents half.
United don't have a specialist no.10 other than Mkhitaryan and Mata, giving Mourinho the obvious reason to try out Pogba. Mourinho has tried him at no.10 in the past and its time for him to give Pogba a long run in that position.
#1 Switch to a more attacking 4-1-3-2 formation
Jose Mourinho may have to ditch his tried and tested formation if he wants to revitalize this Manchester United team. Clearly United are not able to dominate games and playing a 4-2-3-1 is getting more predictable for opposing teams to defend against.
With the arrival of Nemanja Matic, Manchester United have one of the best defensive midfielders in the league and that allows Mourinho to play the trio of Rashford, Pogba and Martial in a attacking midfield roles just behind the striker duo of Lukaku and Ibrahimovic. This will give more numbers in the box for Mourinho and targets for Martial and Rashford to aim at.
With Marcos Rojo fit, Jose Mourinho will have 4 good central defenders to chose from. Ashley young has been good after his return from injury and Valencia is untouchable on the right. A 4-1-3-2 formation looks like a better option for Jose Mourinho to get back to winning ways.
