Analysing Manchester United's chances in the UEFA Champions League

It was tipped at the beginning of the season that Jose Mourinho's infamous third season with Manchester United would be a lucky one considering his previous exploits. Nearing the end of October and sitting precariously at the 10th position on the Premier League table, the chances of winning the UEFA Champions League seems bleak.

The Red Devils last reached the finals in 2011 and a repeat of something that mammoth seems highly unlikely. A 0-1 loss to Juventus and a 0-0 draw with Valencia at home didn't help their cause either.

Club legend Rio Ferdinand also doubts the chances of his former club. ‘I don’t think they have enough. The foundation of every big team that wins things is the defence. And the United defence is not strong enough and they have not reinforced so I don’t see them doing well,’ Ferdinand said in an interview.

The United defence has not been the only thing to worry about. Although they have a monster of a goalkeeper in De Gea, apart from that there has been nothing much to show.

The defence has been crumbling regularly during the set pieces and apart from Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof (in patches) none of the defenders has been able to get a grip on things. Their forwards have been blunt as well which has been evident from the scanty number of goals that have been scored.

Lee Sharpe, the former United striker, slammed Lukaku's performance heavily saying, “I've never seen a centre-forward with such a bad touch". Off-pitch troubles between the manager and his players and the manager and the board have further fuelled controversies.

Paul Pogba needs to step up to redefine United's fortunes (Image Source: Getty)

The creativity needs to be generated in the midfield where Matic and Pogba have been ineffective owing to Mourinho's defensive tactics. Mata and Herrera have shown rare glimpses of their prowess but they seldom have come off the bench and not been regular starters.

With the signing of the Brazilian, Fred, this summer from Shakhtar Donetsk it seemed Mourinho had solved the midfield issues of United but after the first few matches, the evidence is to the contrary. In the first half in the match against Juventus, there were too many empty pockets in the midfield.

Their World Cup hero Pogba hasn't been able to replicate his performances from the national team to his club which has been a major issue for Mourinho. Currently sitting at the 2nd spot in the group with their next fixture at Turin on the 7th of November where they meet a mighty Juventus it would require a miracle from United to beat their opponents.

We can only hope that the likes of Lukaku and Pogba step up the ante to achieve the unthinkable because the tough part will start if they somehow come through the group stage.