Manchester United seems to be finding new ways to defeat itself every time it takes the field. On Thursday the Red Devils dominated possession, but made no noteworthy opportunities before the 89th minute, and watched Fenerbahce score two wonderful goals to earn the spoils in their Europa League group A clash in Istanbul.
After their 38-shot onslaught against Burnley was foiled by the magnificent Tom Heaton on Saturday, United’s attacking effort came from the opposite end of the scale in Turkey and a 2-1 defeat was just desserts for their lack of any kind of threat in the final third.
United’s goal return in recent weeks has been pitiful, and until Wayne Rooney rifled a late consolation the Red Devils couldn’t have looked less likely to score as Dick Advocaat’s outfit snatched a sensational early goal from Moussa Sow and forced the visitors to attempt to break them down. The Dutchman has seen enough of United of late to have known it was exactly the right approach.
Whether fashioning five chances or 38, United looks impotent at the moment, and Rooney’s late strike only served to underline what they should have been doing in the previous 88 minutes. Despite having spent over 110 million pounds ($137M) in the summer on attacking talent to complement a side already boasting big-money stars such as Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata, they have a collection of forwards whose heads drop at the first sign of adversity. Only when the goose was cooked did anyone attempt something new.
Much has been made of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s lack of goals - and he could certainly do with putting in as much effort to getting on track as he did to a running vocal battle with Martin Skrtel and Simon Kjaer - but he is only the start of their issues in opposition territory. Rooney was given a start against Fenerbahce, and yet was quickly giving further evidence for the case to push him straight back down the pecking order. The England captain has simply lost his touch and on present form will never find it again. He will score the occasional goal, as he proved here, but it is hardly enough to compensate for extensive periods of inadequacy.
In many respects, United should have grave worries about its defense right now given the losses of Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling to injury but, despite the makeshift nature of a back line with Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo at its heart, it is the forward department which is badly letting down the club at the moment.
There was a lack of width about the Red Devils' attacking play, even after Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were introduced after the break to provide some new direction on the ball, and Fener goalkeeper Volkan Demirel had nothing to do before watching Rooney’s shot hit the back of the net. Yes, they had lost Paul Pogba to injury during the first half, but there was little identifiable difference between their approach pre- and post-the Frenchman’s departure.
Jose Mourinho has a lot on his plate. He insisted before the home fixture with Fenerbahce that he will need time to make things right at Old Trafford, but as soon as Jeremain Lens’ excellent free kick found the net to make it 2-0 on the hour mark there was about as much belief on display in the Portuguese’s face as there was in his side’s attacking play.
United won’t lose out too much from this defeat since it will still qualify for the knockout stage if it beats Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk in the two remaining group A games, and even an early Europa League elimination would damage its pride more than it would its ambitions.
But there is a very real fear that such form is quickly becoming the norm for this United side. Louis van Gaal’s squad failed repeatedly because of a flawed set-up which continually undermined them in the same fashion week after week.
Mourinho’s Man Utd is starting to take on a very similar look, and the sooner he can inject some new ideas into his side’s attack, the better.
