Sport
Manchester United’s attempt at building invincibility has already failed emphatically
Manchester United’s start to the season was met with widespread praise. Jose Mourinho’s side were quickly picked as title favourites by many even before August was over. The international break came, dragged on, and left. A return to Premier League normality brought by far the sternest challenge of the campaign. A visit to Stoke City is traditionally one of the most unpleasant in a Premier League calendar. West Ham, Swansea and Leicester had been resilient, but Mourinho’s side had not had to deal with anything like the performance they were subject to in the Potteries. It was hostile under the late-summer, evening light at the Bet365 Stadium, and a slow start from United only fed the hope of the Potters. Having been unable to produce their characteristic top six upsets last season, Mark Hughes’ faithful had renewed confidence after snatching three points from Arsenal only a few weeks ago.
Have they even been that good?
Despite the emphatic results against West Ham and Swansea, United have not been carving teams open from the off. They have, however, played with more invention than they did in the opening half an hour against Stoke. Hughes had set his side up to contain, and named a front three capable of threatening any defence on the counter. It was not the textbook Stoke performance of the Tony Pulis days, even if that’s all we hear about when a perceived big team visits the Potteries. Manchester United struggled to slow their fast attacking transitions, and could not easily pick holes in Stoke’s solid back five. The obvious conclusion is that we should not leap to exaggerated verdicts within a few weeks. That is a pretty clear one, but it happens every year and will continue to. The greater concern, was that it only took an opponent with a little more attacking direction to expose many of the same fragilities in Manchester United’s defence.
Familiar Frailties
Phil Jones was out of position too frequently, Matteo Darmian was all over the place and even a midfield of Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba was unable to stifle the Potters. Eric Choupo-Moting was free at the back post to score the equaliser. Stoke put in one of their best performances over the last 18 months, but it was not an unplayable display. Mourinho’s side had looking infallible, then all their fallibilities jumped out at once. They could not break the Potters down, and were found wanting defensively. For all the criticism of United, Stoke were somewhere near their best of Hughes’ era. United offered hope to their Premier League rivals, and those who suspected this could be a typical Mourinho title victory: lead from the front, lift trophy. The Potters will take points from many of the top six this season if they continue to perform as they have. Mourinho will see his side drop many more points against mid-table sides if they are easily exposed defensively. He can claim that ‘only one team tried to win’ all he likes, but their first significant test of this season was a failure. The invincibility of Mourinho’s best teams saps any confidence from opponents even before kick-off. It has been broken before it could really be built this season. Stoke’s blueprint was not an overly complex one, though their success against Mourinho’s defence will give all of their future challengers belief that there is a possibility of a positive result.
Emulating Chelsea and Spurs
The routine win over FC Basel in midweek has eased the frustration from Saturday night. Domestically, United must take three points from the visit of Everton, especially after the ease with which Chelsea and Spurs have recently dispatched the Toffees. The loss of Paul Pogba for up to six weeks is a greater test of their 2017/18 credentials than any individual fixture, though. The Frenchman’s freedom alongside Matic has injected creativity and drive to the team, and the balance of the side is completely unsettled by the loss of his all-pitch game. It all adds to the same problems. The attack that was becalmed by Stoke loses its instigator-in-chief, and a team that had everything now has a gaping hole in the middle third. A kind fixture list does mean that the defence is unlikely to face an attack of Stoke’s ilk for a few weeks yet, and that whiff of invincibility could have begun to return by then. We will not properly know what this Manchester United side can achieve until November. Let’s hope we remember that when a team gets off to a flier in 2018/19, too.
