Man United's D-grade summer has seen fears grow about typical Jose Mourinho implosion

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  • A maudlin mood has descended over Manchester United.

    Manager Jose Mourinho has done all he can to spark fears of his dreaded ‘third-season syndrome’. Pick your target, from moribund transfer dealings to the price of tickets, the Portuguese has rallied against it.

    Performances on the pitch have been drab and results mixed. This is no surprise when seven players for last term’s runners-up made World Cup 2018’s semi-finals and were unavailable in the United States.

    Mourinho is applying pressure from all angles on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to bring in more new faces, to join Brazil centre midfielder Fred, Porto full-back Diogo Dalot and reserve goalkeeper Lee Grant.

    A “difficult season” has been promised if additional business isn’t done.

    RESULTS

    L 1-0 Bayern Munich

    W 2-1 Real Madrid

    L 4-1 Liverpool

    D 1-1 AC Milan

    D 0-0 San Jose Earthquakes

    D 1-1 Club America

    United’s tour of America will not be remembered fondly.

    Shaky form, depleted sides and some embarrassing attendances were witnessed. For Mourinho, their five-match sprint around the country turned into a trial of endurance.

    “Pre-season is very bad, I have to say that,” he bemoaned.

    “The only positive thing of pre-season is for the young boys.”

    The portrayal of a club in meltdown was overegged. Yet, real problems were incurred.

    Mourinho’s breaking down of his relationship with wantaway France forward Anthony Martial was the nadir. There appears no way back after his failure to return to the States after the birth of his child in Paris.

    Early run-outs against Club America and San Jose Earthquakes were instantly forgettable. A 9-8 penalty-shootout win against AC Milan provided the only entertainment of a stint in which Mourinho has repeatedly experimented with a 3-5-2 formation.

    A 4-1 humbling by rivals Liverpool made awful viewing, although the tour to forget ended on a high point with a dogged 2-1 victory against Real Madrid.

    Then came the weekend’s 1-0 loss at a far-stronger – and superior – Bayern Munich.

    TRANSFER BUSINESS

    FBL-GER-FRIENDLY-BAYERN-MUNICH-MANCHESTER-UNITED

    Key ins: Diogo Dalot – Porto, £19m; Fred – Shakhtar Donetsk, £47m; Lee Grant – Stoke City, £1.5m; Andreas Pereira – Valencia, loan return

    Key outs: Michael Carrick – retirement, Daley Blind – Ajax, £18.5m; Joel Pereira – Vitoria Setubal, loan

    Mourinho has been at pains to portray the image of a man who always demands more.

    United moved quickly to beat champions Manchester City to the signing of Fred – who would incur slight injury prior to the World Cup. A plethora of rivals were then headed off to land Dalot, also struck down by a knee problem, for whom Mourinho has labelled him within his age group as “the best full-back in Europe”.

    Little is expected of third-choice goalkeeper Grant, but he has not let himself down when picked for friendlies.

    Now, comes a flood of negatives.

    Mourinho was forced to abandon the pursuit of more full-backs and from a list of “five names” that were submitted “a few months ago”, it appears only another centre-back will be added. In an ideal world, a right winger – potentially to replace Martial – is coveted.

    A pursuit of emerging England defender Harry Maguire has stumble because of the world-record fee demanded by Leicester City. Tottenham Hotspur are proving similarly tough negotiators for Toby Alderweireld.

    This has led to talk of moves for Barcelona’s Yerry Mina and Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

    TWO GOOD

    The only way is up

    At least when Mourinho comes to analyse a dreary run of friendlies, the cause is obvious.

    Some of football’s better players were enjoying their holidays as their club-mates endured a vexed Mourinho in North America.

    Centre forward Romelu Lukaku experienced a strong spell in Russia for Belgium, while mercurial midfielder Paul Pogba was arguably the final’s defining player for victors France.

    Another success story was produced by Victor Lindelof’s assured displays at the heart of Sweden’s defence.

    Forward Alexis Sanchez also enjoyed his first whole summer off in nine years, thanks to Chile’s failure to qualify.

    Leicester should be aware for Friday’s big kick-off.

    Pereira stakes his claim

    Few United players had more to prove in this pre-season – and few did more with the opportunity afforded to them than United’s Brazilian centre midfielder, Andreas Pereira.

    The trip to the United States acted as a showcase for the 22-year-old’s talents after he spent last term on loan at Valencia, against Mourinho’s wishes.

    He responded in style. The former PSV Eindhoven starlet played more minutes than anyone else in North America and scored a sumptuous free-kick against Liverpool.

    With Pogba just returned from holiday and Nemanja Matic injured, he’s a certain to start Friday’s opener against Leicester City.

    TWO BAD

    Not so special

    JoseMourinhoManUnited

    Mourinho has represented the ‘Angry One’ since his return to the United fold.

    Angered by a perceived lack of backing in the transfer market, with the largesse afforded to Jurgen Klopp by Liverpool a particular sour point, he has lashed out.

    Rather than focus on what he’s not got, Mourinho would have been well served to work on improving what is already in situ.

    The “not even 30 per cent of my squad” still contained the likes of Juan Mata and – when visa issues were belatedly sorted – Sanchez. Players to work on, rather than ask to defend excruciatingly deep.

    United’s defence also looked flaky, a situation still apparent when Javi Martinez headed in the only goal for Bayern.

    Did Mourinho work to eradicate these issues himself, or just expect Woodward to solve them in the market?

    Injuries keep mounting

    It’s been a regular cry from Mourinho.

    The United boss has grown weary about seeing so many of his first-choice stars restricted to the treatment table. Frustratingly, this theme continued during the summer.

    Fred suffered a problem in the build-up to the World Cup for Brazil and fellow new boy Dalot is sidelined until next month. Errant left-back Luke Shaw picked up and recovered from a minor problem in America, Serbia defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic will miss the start of the season after he underwent surgery and injury-prone Ivory Coast centre-back Eric Bailly was forced off against Bayern Munich.

    It will also be interesting to see how the likes of Phil Jones get on in the month’s ahead after they accepted truncated summer breaks after their international duty in Russia.

    This state of play denies Mourinho the consistency all top teams require.

    VERDICT: D

    08 08 Pre-season report card Man United

    The positives are far outweighed by the negatives as United head into 2018/19.

    Mourinho has seemingly created this poisonous atmosphere in a bid to force Woodward’s hand in the transfer market. Thus far, this technique has proven ineffectual.

    United were City’s closest challengers last term, mathematically speaking. Fred and Pereira point to a stronger midfield, a rested Sanchez looks in better shape plus so many United players had great World Cups.

    Now, the bad stuff. Ponderous United’s struggles creating chances continued, they enjoyed only 29 percent possession against an undercooked Madrid plus the triumvirate of Sanchez, Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata mustered no shots on target in defeat to Bayern.

    Mourinho has done nothing to dispel the narrative that he never lasts more than three seasons – a statistic borne out throughout his managerial career.

    The vibe at Old Trafford has to change – and fast.

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