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Manchester United beat Bournemouth 2-1 at Vitality Stadium on Saturday. Here are three things we learned from the game.
Manchester United beat Bournemouth Saturday at Vitality Stadium on Saturday, thanks to Marcus Rashford's second-half goal. Here are three things we learned from the game.
The new Mourinho
If Jose Mourinho proved to last the season at Old Trafford, we will surely come back on last month's return win against Newcastle as a turning point. Since that match, which United has played with five attacking players (six if you include Marouane Fellaini, seven if you also include Ashley Young), Mourinho seems to have finally given in to all requests from United fans. mark more attacking football.
Juan Mata has always been present in the starting lineup since then, his ability to receive the ball under pressure and to transmit a welcome addition to a midfielder who has become much too dependent on Paul Pogba for creativity.
Against Bournemouth on Saturday, Mourinho went one step further by playing Mata, Martial and Alexis Sanchez in a front trio, and Fred (dismissed over the past few months, though it appears to be a perfect stylistic fit) alongside Pogba and Nemanja Matic in the middle of the field.
Of course, the problem with Mourinho's new offensive approach is that Mourinho is not an attacking coach, and putting several attackers on the field at the same time is not the same as building up a team of honest attacks.
It was obvious in the first half hour of the Vitality, in which Bournemouth had created four good scoring opportunities and had gone through United's midfield with little resistance. While the Cherries press was losing its intensity, United managed to get back into the game and finally found a late winner in a second half from start to finish. It was far from a convincing performance.
United has become in the past month a more exciting team to watch. The attack transformation of Mourinho has been successful. But this is not the controlled chaos of the Sir Alex Ferguson years. Too often, especially at the beginning of games, you watch this team and have trouble understanding what they are trying to do. It is only after falling behind, as they have done four times in their last five games, that a structure seems to emerge, out of necessity.
Adding more attacking players to the starting lineup may be a step in the right direction, but the next step – turning these players into a coherent unit – is much more dangerous. Mourinho has given us so far little evidence suggesting that he is able to take it.
Bournemouth misses a chance
During the first 10 games of the season, the Cherries could have been seriously contested for a place in the top six, provided that at least one of the big six is clearly lacking.
This idea has always seemed far-fetched – for a club the size of Bournemouth and ways to finish even in the top eight would be a considerable feat – but there has been real progress so far this season, especially at the back.
In the last three seasons, the cherries have gradually degraded at the back. IN 2015-16, they placed 13th in the league in xGA, by layer. They dropped to 17th in 2016-17 and were 19th in last season, while Stoke is only relegated. So far this season, they have placed eighth.
This is a huge improvement and a testimony, among other things, of the quality of Nathan Ake and Asmir Begovic, both signed early last season. But that will only aggravate Saturday's loss.
Because it was, in many ways, the worst version of Bournemouth: a magnificent game of attack undermined in the long run by a bad finish, a weak defense and the inability to clear the head. Cherries will not, and should not, be judged too harshly on their results against the big six, but it's a missed opportunity to prove that they really claim to be the best of others.
Has Lukaku lost the competition?
Romelu Lukaku did not travel with United to the Vitality because he recovered from a minor injury in training. United play Juventus midweek in the Champions League, which means that it was probably only a precaution.
Nevertheless, given that Lukaku has not scored a goal in the Premier League since mid-September, he has only four in all competitions for his club this season and that Martial (five goals in four games) and Rashford (a goal and a help in four games) are in better shape, it should be wondered when there is no time for the Belgian to spend time on the bench.
Lukaku is an excellent player and an ideal striker for a typical Mourinho team. But United does not play like a typical Mourinho team. Add to that the fact that Martial is clearly the center of attack right now and that Mata, Sanchez and Rashford are all more versatile in position than Lukaku, and it's hard not to wonder at least what that would look like team if it more fluid configuration.
None of these players proved themselves as scorers, but Mourinho tinkered with his starting eleven uninterrupted this season, eliminating almost all his players before reintroducing them (or not) into the formation. It could now be Lukaku's turn.
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