How José Mourinho Is Killing Manchester United
3. Changing His Centre-Backs All The Time
The disregard for Victor Lindelöf and Eric Bailly as Premier League calibre players is ridiculously unfair considering their shambolic partnership and form is down to the manager changing his centre-backs every match.
Under the direction of Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić developed an unconquerable alliance by routinely playing together. This not only enabled Rio and Nemanja to grow and trust each other, it gave Ferguson’s United a reliable defence that could stop and start attacks.
Meanwhile, under the clueless leadership of José Mourinho, none of the current defenders have had an ample amount of consistency in the first 11 to build any solidarity. Chris Smalling is the closest thing to a permanent figure in the heart of the defence, and that’s why he’s the most confident and vocal when playing next to Bailly, Lindelöf, and – when things get really bad – Phil Jones.
Although Smalling and Daley Blind wasn’t the strongest partnership, Louis Van Gaal did understand that defenders must play together to get better and more compact. Mourinho’s constant rotating has resulted in his team having one of the worst defensive records, and his desperate experimentation could ruin the career of Scott McTominay if he dares play the young midfielder in defence ever again.