Why Jose Mourinho's sacking by Manchester United looks imminent

One hopes that Sir Alex Ferguson, who is recovering from a brain haemorrhage didn’t witness Manchester United’s abject performance against Brighton. There’s no way that man who embodied an unrelenting fighting spirit could’ve been pleased with the abject lifeless performance by a host of individuals wearing red shirts who claimed to be Manchester United players.

During the Fergie era, irrespective of the score, Manchester United always looked capable of getting back into the game.  After last night’s performance, one can safely say that era is long gone.

It wasn’t a smash-and-grab win by lesser opponents. Brighton and Hove Albion won comfortably against a limp United squad that lacked thrust in attack, cohesion in midfield and anything resembling stability in defence.

 Eric Bailly in particular looked like - to borrow phrase from Gary Neville -  a player being controlled by a rash 10-year-old on Playstation.

Former United legend Neville said after the match: “It’s really poor from Bailly, it’s so poor. Jose will hate what he’s seeing. All of them [the defenders] dive in, every single one of them. He will be absolutely fuming. Every single United defender… they’re rash, they make tackles they don’t have to.”

Bailly again showed his propensity to attempt the idiotic when calm was required. He was undisciplined throughout the match, dived for awkward tackles and conceded a penalty just when Lukaku had put United back on track.

Lindelof was no better, looking more like his nickname should be Happy Feet instead of Iceman, and regressed as the game wore on. Great league-winning sides are built on a solid centre-defensive pairing and at the moment it doesn’t look like Mourinho can trust any of the five players who claim to play centre-back. Young too looked off the mark, looking like age had finally caught up with him and only Luke Shaw did the red shirt any justice.

Mourinho will claim privately that it was the failure of these defenders which had seen him urge vice-chairman Ed Woodward to sign a new centre-back, but the board will point out that both Lindelof and Bailly were signed by Mourinho for upward of 60 million pounds and there’s no guarantee that any replacement will be much better.  

Meanwhile David De Gea is having a horror marathon of his own.  He almost saved the penalty, but Lady Luck appears to have deserted him.  

Since the World Cup started, he has conceded 10 goals in 14 shots which is horrible for a shot-stopper of his calibre. To put this in context, in the 2017-18 Premier League season when he won the Golden Gloves, he kept 18 clean sheets, conceded only 28 goals and made a staggering 115 saves.

In midfield, the trio of Fred, Pogba and Pereira looked like lost schoolchildren. Brighton’s midfielders, who are compensated far less handsomely than their United counterparts, ran circles around them.

While Fred and Pereira’s lapses can be put down to beginner’s jitters, there’s no excuse for Pogba who’s in his third season. Handed the armband, Pogba proceeded to prove that just because he was mature in the World Cup doesn’t mean he will continue to be so for Man Utd.

He mis-passed 15 times (most on the team), was dispossessed six times and committed six fouls. It was a far cry from the player who stamped his authority on the World Cup and more reminiscent of the player Graeme Souness can’t stop complaining about.

Rumour has it that his agent Mino Raiola is trying to sell Pogba to Barcelona but even Bengaluru FC would think twice before signing him based on yesterday’s performance.

Up front, a trio of Martial, Lukaku and Mata didn’t fare much better. Martial except for one moment of endeavour was his wasteful self and will find it hard to make it back to the squad if Sanchez is fit.

On the right, Mata looked out of depth, and it’s clear that he no longer has the legs to track back if played on the flanks.

United were also lacking in general width, which is hardly surprising given the fact that they’ve no natural wingers. This system means Lukaku is often stranded up front. This is criminal waste of his talent considering that Lukaku is a great target man but there’s absolutely no one to cross the ball to him. He only had two chances and finished one and was starved off service throughout the match.

Mourinho threw on Rashford, Lingard and Fellaini to change things but even in the second half United lacked any of the verve needed to get back in the game.

Given the performances, it does look like Jose’s third-season syndrome has arrived sooner than expected. While some might claim that it’s premature to panic this early in the season, there will be concerns given Mourinho has spent most of the pre-season whining about a lack of signings, an indication that he is not going to take responsibility for his actions.

Pogba’s interviews seem to indicate that Mourinho has lost the dressing room and the players don’t believe in the manager anymore.

This doesn’t mean players are in open rebellion but can happen on a subconscious level as well where they no longer believe in the manager, as we observed at both Real Madrid and Chelsea.

Mourinho, in his late fall avatar, is also a long way from the manager who could convince his players to run through walls. The more wizened Mourinho is a sight grumpier and at constant war with the world.

The man who could deliver Champions League trophies with less-fancied squads like Inter Milan and FC Porto seems to be gone.

Also, problematic is his general cautious approach which neither gels with Manchester United’s ethos, nor those of the players at his disposal who like to express themselves.

All of this is creating a never-ending cocktail of disappointment which is exacerbated by his bete noir Pep Guardiola down the road at Manchester City who has his team playing champagne-popping football. The greatest club in England is now miles behind their noisy neighbours despite similar spends and wages.  

Manchester United fans would’ve been onboard with the caustic Mourinho if he could deliver results but not only is Manchester United playing boring football, it’s not even winning with their soporific style.

Post-match, Mourinho claimed that he will break his tradition by not criticising individual players anymore but given the state of the dressing room and the breakdown of his relationships with the likes of Martial and Pogba, it might be a tad too late.

The modern Premier League footballer is far more fragile than stars of yesteryear and Mourinho appears out-of-touch when dealing with them. His imminent third-season sacking doesn’t seem too far away unless Mourinho can deliver results. History however suggests that Mourinho is quite incapable of changing, even when all appears lost.