Is it really the manager's fault at Manchester United?

Manchester United v Derby County - Carabao Cup Third Round

With a defeat at the hands of Derby County in the opening round of fixtures for Manchester United, things seem to be looking even worse for Jose Mourinho, with the latest video of a reported argument between him and Paul Pogba emerging this morning.

Also, there has been a massive increase in the number of fans who are against Jose Mourinho and his style of play, labeling his tactics as 'negative football', but the question remains, is this really Jose Mourinho's fault?

With Marcus Rashford not available for the game against Derby due to his red card earlier this season against Burnley, Mourinho had no choice but to play Romelu Lukaku up front as the main striker.

Who went on to miss four chances against Derby, which on any other day could've made Manchester United dominate the scoreline.

Here's an example showing just how naive his performance was last night.

Then we have the mistake of Sergio Romero, which resulted in a red card and a forced substitution of Juan Mata, who opened the scoring for United in just three minutes from kick off.

United were absolutely wasteful last night in front of goal, on a night when they could have killed the game in the first half itself. And this has been the same story for almost three years now, ever since Mourinho took his reigns at the club.

Be it the infamous 0-0 game at Old Trafford against Burnley in 2016, where United had 38 shots with 0 shots on target, or the 0-0 game against Hull City in 2017, where United similarly had 16 shots in total with again, 0 shots on target.

Players not finishing the chances, resulting in a drop of points, and the blame goes to the manager. However, this time it's a lot more complicated matter. Paul Pogba recently made some comments about the tactical approach of his manager in their 1-1 draw at Old Trafford against Wolves.

"We are at home and we should play much better against Wolves. We are here to attack," Pogba told the media after the match.
"I'm not the manager, I cannot say that."
"Obviously we should show more options but I cannot say that because I'm a player." - he said.

Maybe he's right, maybe Manchester United should have attacked more, but making comments like this against your active manager, questioning his game plan while also being the Vice Captain of the club, is just completely unprofessional.

Even under the dismal run of Chelsea in 2015-16 or last season under Antonio Conte when they had their worst ever start to a calendar year, players never publicly questioned or made remarks against their manager.

Or even at Arsenal, under Arsene Wenger, where they won just one away game in a whole second half of the season, players never went out of the way in media against the manager.

Manchester United v Derby County - Carabao Cup Third Round

Therefore now, it's not just about a clash of egos at Manchester United, between Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho, but rather a question about the professionalism in the modern game, where whether players can get away after publicly making remarks against their managers.

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Edited by Abhinav Munshi
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