The season is only nine weeks old but already Jose Mourinho and Manchester United stand at a crucial juncture. Their flying start to the 2017/18 campaign appeared to have ended the debate surrounding Mourinho’s suitability to a role that, uniquely in English football, demands attacking football, but the events of the last fortnight have reopened old arguments and left many – the fans, the media, and perhaps even the players – to question whether suffocation tactics and drab 0-0 draws are acceptable at Old Trafford.
For myriad reasons Man Utd’s match against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday is a huge symbolic moment for the Portuguese. His failure to attack Liverpool – made all the more embarrassing by Spurs’ 4-1 win against Jurgen Klopp’s side a week later – suggested Mourinho’s cautious tactics are becoming increasingly outdated in the modern game. In 2017, piercing counter-attacks are increasingly prevalent as the counter-punch to high-pressing football, which has taken over from the possession obsession we saw in the preceding decade. An ultra-low block that deliberately defied Spanish-style tiki-taka made sense during the mid-2000s, but as the Kloppites take over English football it is beginning to feel like a tired concept.
More importantly, Mourinho’s side are five points behind a Manchester City team who have already beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge using ball dominance to their advantage, proving that possession-centric football is in fact reliable. That City and United have both conceded four league goals further undermines Mourinho’s tactical approach. And so United cannot afford to play for another low-scoring draw, which would most likely leave them seven points off the pace after Manchester City visit the Hawthorns later on Saturday.
Mourinho has never managed in a division like this before. There are six clubs realistically harbouring ambitions for the title, which means ten of the 38 league fixtures are against fellow title contenders; it was acceptable to play defensively in “big games” when there were only two or four per year (as at Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Chelsea) but not in such a competitive division.
Consequently this weekend’s visit of Spurs has grand symbolic meaning. Another poor performance that prioritises defence over attack will trigger murmurs of dissent among the fans and the media – and may even cause the players to lose some of their faith in Mourinho. Watching Spurs play with creative freedom will surely provoke jealousy in the United players, most of whom would have arrived at Old Trafford expecting to be trusted to play with creative freedom.
Mourinho’s siege mentality has made him one of the greatest managers of all time, but it is a management style built around psychological strength, which is both a blessing and a curse; when the team begin to lose faith things unravel remarkably quickly.
And so a big win against Spurs, in which bravery is rewarded and Ferguson-esque attacking prioritised, is a must. United seem a long way from crisis, but a timid performance on Saturday might be the beginning of a significant backlash.
