Manchester United surely know how to make possible wins turn to defeats. Who would have expected them to get knocked out of the EFL League Cup (now called as the Carabao Cup) in the first round to lowly-ranked Derby County? Who would have expected them to trail 1-2 till the 90th minute to the sixth-placed side in the Championship at home?
Marouane Fellaini came off the bench and scored a goal in the 90th minute to save United’s blushes and take the game to penalties. The determined Derby side then made a complacent United pay as they took the game home after winning the penalty shoot-out 8-7.
The result was shocking and infuriating to both manager Jose Mourinho and the fans. The former took the blame upon himself in the post-match presser but there’s only so much that the can Portuguese do. Analysing the game will anger United fans even more and the pathetic display shown by their players would make it harder to sleep well.
Mourinho started with Phil Jones, perhaps the worst defender to have ever worn Manchester United colours and gave the captaincy to Ashley Young, which shows the lack of depth in the United bench. Young is a good crosser of the ball and can make runs on the inside of the opposition’s defences but even the former Aston Villa man will admit that he can no longer defend with authority.
As for Phil Jones, it is hard to fathom why Mourinho would want to start with him when you have Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof in the ranks to partner Eric Bailly. Jones is prone to make mistakes and is very technically poor. He is highly overrated and it was hard to believe that it was him and not Smalling who made it to England’s World Cup squad.
Manchester United’s lack of depth in the bench meant that Romelu Lukaku too had to start against Derby after back-to-back Champions League and Premier League games against Young Boys and Wolves respectively. United have no proper striker to deputise for Lukaku and Marcus Rashford and this is an alarming sign indeed.
Mourinho did the right thing, though, to drop Alexis Sanchez and make Anthony Martial play, who was very impressive. Sergio Romero, however, made a schoolboyish error which led to United playing with only ten men. I am not saying that Romero shouldn’t have gone for the ball; only that he should have had enough confidence in his ability to take it well inside the area.
Silly errors and a lack of killer instinct made Manchester United to get knocked out of the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Manchester City, on the other hand, dominated League 1 side Oxford United away from home and ended the game 3-0. The depth in City’s roster and Pep Guardiola’s rotation policy meant that Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and Brahim Diaz started in the forward line and give Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling some rest (although the latter did come off the bench).
Guardiola entrusted the responsibility of the midfield to youngster Phil Foden and he repaid the faith with a goal and an assist. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Danilo made their way back into the team after a long lay-off and Guardiola also played seventeen-year old Adrian Bernabe.
The difference between the two Manchester giants is that the Red Devils no longer possess the winning mentality that they had in the late 90s and for the better part of the 2000s. They have a pitiful bench where there are no real quality players to take the mantle from the stars when the time comes. Manager Jose Mourinho tries hard, sometimes very hard, but it is tough when you have next to no world-class players in the ranks. For signing too many squad players but not many world-class players, some of the blame has to go to Mourinho too.
City, on the other hand, showed how lowly teams should be dealt with. They put on a display of ruthlessness and swept their opponents aside. United would do well to watch their neighbours and learn something from them, although heart and resolve cannot be taught easily.