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Manchester United have already said goodbye to the Premier League title. Halfway through the season, United trail Manchester City by a massive 15 points. The Citizens are in rampaging form and the possibility of them losing the title is minimal.
The next realistic target for Mourinho is a top-four finish and it does not look easy either. Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Arsenal are hot on their heels and they cannot afford to lose any more ground.
Martial, Rashford, Lingard, Pogba, Matic, and Young were brilliant for United over the last 5 months. On the other hand, Old Trafford has witnessed some poor individual performances this season.
On that note, let's have a look at the worst Manchester United players this season.
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#5 Matteo Darmian
Darmian has been used only as a squad player by Jose Mourinho ever since he took charge at the Old Trafford. The form of Antonio Valencia and resurgence of Ashley Young has left Darmian's United career in jeopardy. His form of late hasn't been good either.
Damian's contribution to United's attacking play did not impress Mourinho this season. Though he is a better defender, Darmian struggles more often to provide the impetus going forward.
Darmian made 7 appearances for United this season (EPL & UCL) and virtually nothing to show for a fullback. He made a solitary key pass in 7 games combined, and a total of 2 crosses with 0% accuracy, which is really poor for a fullback. Overall, a poor season for the Italian international.
#4 Marcos Rojo
One of Manchester United's mainstay last campaign, Marcos Rojo was out of action since April after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a Europa League game and only made his comeback late in November against Basel in a UEFA Champions League game.
However, Rojo, on his injury return, is going through a poor run of form. In 5 Premier League appearances so far this season, the Argentine international failed to keep a single clean sheet and conceded 7 goals.
He made a total of 1 successful tackle in his 5 games combined and never looked like the player we saw last season. He lost more duels and his aerial battles weren't great either. It may be too harsh to asses Marcos Rojo who is just six weeks into his return from a horrific injury but the 27-year-old is capable of playing a lot better.
#3 Chris Smalling
One of the longest-serving United players, this is Smalling's eighth season at Old Trafford. All these years, Smalling could never establish himself as a first choice centre-back at Manchester United. He has never made more than 25 Premier League appearances in a season, except for 2015/16.
His performances have not been great over the years and this season is no exception. Smalling has been quite poor and indecisive. His passing wasn't great either and some of his markings were very poor. Manchester United lost 3 games in Premier League this season and all of them had Smalling at the heart of United's defence.
In his 13 PL starts, Manchester United were able to keep only 5 clean sheets and conceded 12 goals. United have depth at the back and when everyone is fit, Chris Smalling will be Jose Mourinho's fourth choice centre-back.
#2 Victor Lindelof
He is beginning to get a little better but when you pay a fee of €35 million for a defender, you expect him to be on the mark right away. The Swedish international took a lot of time to settle at Old Trafford. He barely played in the initial few weeks, but, injuries to Eric Bailly and Phil Jones gave him a lifeline.
He struggled to adapt to the physicality of Premier League and made a lot of errors in his early days at Old Trafford. His couple of awful mistakes against Huddersfield in the Premier League cost United the game. He has kept on making mistakes throughout the campaign and never looked comfortable at the back.
Though he was a little better in Champions League, in his 9 Premier League appearances so far, he has conceded 9 goals and won just 4 games. He was beaten easily in aerial challenges, more often than not and all in all, a very poor start to his Premier League career.
#1 Henrikh Mkhitaryan
An easy choice for the no.1 spot on this list. Hailed as the 'king of assists', because of his heroics with Borussia Dortmund, Mkhitaryan came to United with a lot of expectations. He took time to settle at Old Trafford but eventually found his feet last season.
He started 2017/18 on a brilliant note, notching up 5 assists from first 3 Premier League games. It all went downhill for the Armenian after a good start. In his next 12 PL appearances, the 28-year-old failed to create a single United goal and scored just once.
He was dropped by Mourinho after a string of poor performances and a lack of intensity, but his form never improved. He has registered a total of only 15 shots in PL this season and a mere 5 of them were on target. His crosses lacked accuracy and his creativity completely vanished. United fans now fear they may never see the Mkhitaryan of the past.
