Valencia 2-1 Manchester United - 3 reasons why United lost the match

Manchester United have been in dire straits this season, lying sixth in the Premier League – eight points behind a Champions League spot – and this is a far cry from what was expected at the start of the season.

One shining light this term had however been in the Champions League, as The Red Devils have booked their spot in the next round, despite not playing the most aesthetic of football.

With Juventus travelling to Switzerland to face bottom-placed Young Boys and holding a two-point advantage over United, the record English champions knew that they had to register a victory in Spain to capitalize on any potential but highly unlikely slipup by Juventus.

As it happened, the Italians fell to a 2-1 defeat by Young Boys which was unforeseen, but United failed to capitalize. They fell to Valencia by the same scoreline after putting up another lifeless performance which condemned them to second place in Group H.

This would make life much harder for The Red Devils, as they could potentially face one of the biggest teams in Europe when the draws are made next Monday (which would be a nightmare considering the form they are in), and could have been avoided had they secured a victory against Valencia.

Manchester United kept to the pattern of shambolic displays which have become commonplace under Mourinho, and in this piece, we take a look at 3 reasons why United lost the match.

#3 The starting line-up

Perhaps with one eye on the weekend's marquee clash with Liverpool and safe on the knowledge that his team had qualified, Jose Mourinho made wholescale tweaks to his side.

The Portuguese tactician made eight changes to his team, introducing players who did not have 'many miles' on their legs (José Mourinho's very colourful way of describing his second team - if you can call them that, given his propensity of constant chopping and changing).

United's starting 11 at Mestalla included faces like Eric Bailly, Sergio Romer, Phil Jones and Paul Pogba (who has been benched for each of the Mancunian's last two matches).

A lot of these players are match rusty, and their lack of game time was evident from the blast of the whistle, as they struggled for fluidity and failed to create any sort of tempo (even by their usual low standards).

The result of this was that Valencia dominated proceeding from the get-go and deservedly went into the break in the lead, as they had been asking all the questions in the first half.

United only began to assert themselves somewhat after the break when Mourinho made some introductions off the bench, with Rashford, in particular, is a threat, but by then it was a little too late.

Most of the players who started against Valencia find themselves on the periphery of Mourinho's thinking when it comes to selecting his first team, and they all did nothing of note on the night to change the status quo.

#2 Incoherency in midfield

Jose Mourinho started with a midfield containing Perreira, Fred, Fellaini and Pogba, and of this quartet, only the Belgian can claim to have a genuine stake on the United first team.

Andrea Perreyra was making his first start since August and is into the final year of his United contract, but played nothing like it, being ineffectual. Meanwhile, Fred continues to baffle and look a shadow of the highly sought after player that he was at Shakhtar Donetsk.

The 25-year-old was the subject of a bidding war between United and City, and there was much optimism when he was snapped from Pep's grasp. But the Brazil international put up another AWOL performance and was hauled off 15 minutes into the second half (marking the sixth straight time he has been substituted before the 64th minute in the last two months), and questions have begun as to why players struggle once arriving United.

Paul Pogba was perhaps the most disappointing of all. United's record signing and the most expensive player in Premier League history, but since his 2016 second coming, the World Cup winner has received justified criticism of his inconsistencies and excesses on the field. With Mourinho benching him for each of the last two matches and specifically earmarking him to deliver an emphatic performance in his pre-match analysis.

As it happened, Pogba was disappointing on the night, only offering nonthreatening speculative shots from distance.

Marouane Fellaini for all the love Mou has for him is effectively nothing more than a contingency plan when United need a target man when they're chasing matches, with the 31-year-old lacking the requisite technique needed to make a mark on a full match.

Manchester United's midfield was virtually nonexistent throughout the match against Valencia, failing to link up properly with Lukaku in attack, leaving the Belgian record goalscorer to cut a frustrated figure up front, while also failing to provide adequate protection for their back four, as Los Che had multiple chances to attack United, with Carlos Soler and Sanyi Mina having a field day against Jones and the likes.

#1 Phil Jones' woeful display

Once earmarked as a future England and United captain by none other than SAF himself. At the moment, he is not even part of the first-team picture at Old Trafford, as he was making only his sixth start of the season, and it could hardly have gone any worse for the 26-year-old, as he was at fault for both Valencia goals.

For the first, he was guilty of a weak clearing nodder out straight to Carlos Soler, and the forward thanked him by controlling well before striking perfectly past Romero into the bottom corner.

Eric Bailly was Jones defensive partner on the night, and the Ivorian was pulled disappointingly out of position, with Carlos Soler threading a through ball past the United back line.

Non-communication between Romero and Jones ensured that there was a laughable farce in the next sequence of play, as the Argentine came out to intercept, with Jones sliding in to put the ball past his keeper into an empty net in what would have been a beautiful goal (had it gone in the right end) to mark the 7th time United had fallen 2-0 behind this season.

Jones has been on the fringes of the United squad this season, and with him playing out the last year of his contract, his performance on the night did nothing to suggest he merits an extension.

Edited by Sripad