Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United lined up against Zorya Luhansk today, in an attempt to get their Europa League campaign up and running.
Mourinho may have cast doubts over whether a club of United’s magnitude should at all be playing in Europe’s second tier competition, but that still didn’t overshadow the fact that the home team had an important job on their hands against the Ukranian minnows, especially after slipping up against Feyenoord.
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Playing at Old Trafford with a near full-strength squad, United huffed and puffed but finally managed to eke out a winning goal thanks to talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 69th minute header, and also held off the sporadic attempts of their opposition to claw back into the contest.
It wasn’t a very eventful affair by any stretch of imagination, but for what it’s worth, here are the 5 talking points from the match.
#5 Louis van Gaal’s brand of football
The Special One may have taken the reins of Manchester United, hoping to steer them to the promised land, but the shadow cast by Louis van Gaal’s turgid approach to football seems to have rooted itself deep into the team’s psyche.
The first half, although predominated in possession by the hosts, was a spectacle of sideways passing and non-existent penetration – both hallmarks of the Dutchman’s philosophy.
In part, it also had to do with the fact that Luhansk were content to sit deep and stay disciplined, letting their opponents keep the ball but never pressing high enough to allow United to exploit the resulting gaps.
United, on the other hand, can be thankful that Ibrahimovic’s goal in the second half saved them the blushes from what would have otherwise been a performance – and result – straight out of Louis van Gaal’s playbook of ineffectual football.
#4 No start for Rooney
Despite not starting in the weekend’s 4-1 victory over Leicester City, Wayne Rooney was again benched to make way for Juan Mata against Zorya.
It was a move that didn’t prove conclusive either way, however, as United struggled to break down an organized Luhansk side throughout the game – barring Ibrahimovic’s goal – regardless of which player was playing in the number 10 slot.
To be fair to him though, Rooney did manage to impact the game when he came on, scuffing a shot off his knee which fell kindly for Ibrahimovic to head home from close range.
Although there was no definitive change in intensity and quality of football with or without him, Mourinho has made it crystal clear that Wayne Rooney doesn’t automatically book himself a starting 11 berth in his team; a decision that could end up serving United well, as the season wears on.
#3 Zorya Luhansk came to play
To merely consign Zorya’s performance to a team that sat deep and defended for dear life would be selling their efforts on the night way short. Yes, they sat deep and were tacticaly disciplined, but throughout the match, the threat of a counter attack always kept United’s defenders honest.
That Eric Bailly was arguably United’s best player on the night stands testament to Zorya’s performance. And despite having left Old Trafford empty handed in terms of points, they certainly didn’t leave without enhancing their reputation.
Jose Mourinho alluded a couple of weeks back that he had never heard of Zorya Luhansk before the Europa League fixtures were announced, but the nature of their performance on the night should ensure that he doesn’t forget them at least.
#2 United will be a threat from set pieces
Although the goal eventually came from open play, the closest United got to making the Luhansk net bulge was through corners, with Marcus Rashford rattling the underside of the crossbar with a thunderous shot, and Marouane Fellaini threatening the roof of the net with a header that ended up bouncing just over the goal.
If scoring 3 goals in a match from set pieces can be considered slightly anomalous – as United did against Leicester this past weekend – the constant threat that they posed from corners against Luhansk, however, did nothing to dispel that notion today.
It also laid out a marker for the rest of the season; that for a team possessing ariel powerhouses like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini, Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly, a goal is just one whipped cross from a set-piece away.
#1 Momentum with Manchester United
Jose Mourinho, with his new found stoicism, cut a wise figure at the post-match interview when he said that he neither got depressed after 3 straight losses in the previous week, nor is over the moon with 3 consecutive victories in the following one.
But it doesn’t change the fact that the mini-crisis that was feared at Manchester United has been averted with 3 wins on the bounce, meaning that both Mourinho and his team can now focus all their attention towards dealing with a floundering Stoke City in the weekend.
It was hardly a convincing performance by Manchester United, let alone vintage, but having registered on the points table in the Europa League, Jose Mourinho and his team would be looking to build on their run of victories and look to keep up the pressure on League leaders, Manchester City.
It is still early days in the season, but it wouldn’t have escaped Mourinho’s notice that hard fought and grafting performances such as these, are what successful campaigns are built on.
