United made a sartorial and footballing statement with a good performance against Watford
Roughly a fortnight after he appeared to be seeking solace in philosophy during his time of misery by quoting Hegel, things are certainly happier for Jose Mourinho as his Manchester United team, resplendent in their avant-garde pink away kit ran circles around Watford City in the first half of the match at Vicarage Stadium on Saturday.
It was a quite an atypical performance from Manchester United in a post-Fergie era, as they played with gay abandon, pinging the ball with verve, chasing back when needed and in general looking quite unlike the sonorous side we’re used to under Messrs Moyes, Van Gaal and Mourinho. Yet in the first half, the way United played - passing the ball purposefully, it felt like the good ol' days, albeit temporarily.
They were up against a resolute Watford side who had started whispers of ‘doing a Leicester’. The statistically-inclined who believe in karma pointed out that Watford had the same number of points, wins, draws and losses as Leicester had before they won the Premier League.
There’s no denying that this season Watford have been superb, picking up full points from their first four games. It was Watford who started the match better in front of a roaring support, but eventually as the first half progressed Manchester United’s often-maligned midfielders came to the fore.
Fellaini who has returned to the team after his World Cup heroics has slotted in perfectly and given Mourinho the stability he has been yearning for in midfield. He was inarguably the man of the match, sitting deep ahead of Lindelof and Smalling.
Alongside Pogba and Matic in midfield, Fellaini was a dominant presence going forward as well and helped United overrun the Watford midfield pairing of Doucoure and Etienne Capoue, leaving the Hornets’ strikers high and dry in the first half.
Mourinho was quite effervescent about his praise for Fellaini noting: “We made defensive mistakes against Brighton and Tottenham – six goals [conceded], and then go to two difficult matches away at Burnley and Watford. I felt my central defenders in this moment of instability need somebody to support them, to give them the first wall. Marouane is giving us more than that, also quality and simplicity in his football.”
Up front, Mourinho preferred a front three of Lukaku-Lingard-Sanchez. Choosing Sanchez was a particularly brave decision, given the horrific week he had after being spotted dropping a big bag of crisps, which was headline news for the British tabloids.
Despite being United’s top-paid player, Sanchez’s football performances still haven’t matched his one-man sonata on the piano playing GGMU when Manchester United announced his arrival.
He still has the air of a man searching for gold in a desert, a man who knows there’s a treasure waiting but still can’t find the location. Despite trying hard, and having some brilliant moments, Sanchez still isn’t able to make the ball dance the way he used to at Arsenal. He created a very good goal for Lukaku against Burnley and there were moments when he left the Watford defence flat-footed.
Interestingly, both of United’s goals came from set-pieces – albeit the second ball – which thrilled the coaching staff who appeared to be celebrating some long-set plan. The first one saw Lukaku walk in a wicked Ashley Young cross with his sizeable torso, while the second was even more astonishing.
Three minutes after the first goal, a Killmonger-style dreadlocked Chris Smalling controlled a ball on his chest and scored an astonishing Zlatan-style volley that left everyone agape, including Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
On the touchline, Mourinho’s reaction was one of astonishment followed by frenzied celebration, like a parent whose never-do-well son, who against all odds and evidence to the contrary, has cleared IIT-JEE.
It was even more surreal considering the amount of column space that has been devoted to his lack of ball-playing skills, a trait that these days appears to carry more currency than actual defending.
On his touchline celebration, Mourinho later added, “We trained the corner during the week and the best thing that can happen to coaches is you train and then see it happen during a match.” Also, after an acrimonious summer, which he spent bitterly complaining about lack of central defenders, Mourino was quick to praise Smalling, sheepishly admitting that the only problem he had with his centre-back was his hairdo!
Other than the goal, Smalling and Lindelof stood firm at the back, helped by the presence of the towering Fellaini who dropped in, allowing Valencia and Young to attack down the flanks. What will, however, worry most Manchester United fans is the fact that after such a dominant first-half, the team dropped the ball in the second, allowing Watford to get back into the game.
In the second half, they allowed Watford space and didn’t take their opportunities to kill the match off. Mourinho’s bete noire Martial, on in the second half, failed to take his chances twice, often playing like a man who has the weight of the world on his shoulder. Even Sanchez had a chance to kill it off but was denied by fine interventions by Cathcart and Kabasele.
United was lucky they didn’t have to pay for their missed chances and as usual, it was David De Gea who was the Lord and Saviour, saving a point-blank header in the last minute. This isn’t the first time that United took their foot off the pedal after a dominant first half. Except for the terrible game against Brighton, United have been fantastic in the first half before losing focus.
Even against Spurs, they were vibrant going in, yet lost their focus after returning from the dressing room and it’s a problem the Red Devils will have to tackle. Other than that, things are looking up for Mourinho and his boys after a dismal start of the season.
Just like their away kit, they might not be in the pink of health, but a few more performances like this will certainly convince fans that it’s not time to bring out the pink slip for Jose Mourinho yet.
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