Jose Mourinho has had plenty of stick in recent weeks.
His Manchester United side’s second consecutive 0-0 draw at Anfield was followed by the same old ‘bus-parking’ accusations he’s become used to over the years. Even a win at home to Tottenham at the weekend doesn’t seem to have completely shifted the criticism.
A late Anthony Martial goal settled a contest which could’ve gone either way, securing a crucial three points for Mourinho. United weren’t at their attacking best – perhaps not a surprise given the calibre of the opposition, who were also below their recent standards.
Though Mourinho’s hushing down the camera lens at full-time might have suggested he felt vindicated with his approach to the game, plenty of people continue to comment on how the current United side don’t always follow in the footsteps of some of their free-flowing, all-out-attack predecessors.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville suggested the defeat Mourinho suffered in his first Manchester Derby last season – a game that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City won at Old Trafford, 2-1 -could hold the key to his more cautious tactics in games against big opponents.
“I think this day, he tried to go punch for punch with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola,” Neville said, highlighting how City exploited spaces in behind United’s defence and dominated the first half.
“I think he’s thought: ‘there isn’t anyone who’s going to come to my ground and do what they did to us today.'”
He added: “He doesn’t like being humiliated and I think he thought that day ‘We’re too open, too free and we’re not having that in the big games, at Old Trafford or away from home’.
“I need to make sure we win and we pick up points.”
Asked by host David Jones if Mourinho felt he needed to follow the style of play of some of the great United sides of the past, Neville added: “My personal view is yes and then I think he probably realised he wasn’t going to win that way with the group of players he had.
“I think he’s a pragmatic manager. He understands his strengths and weaknesses.”
