Five things learned as Man Utd 0-0 Valencia extends Mourinho’s winless run at Old Trafford

In a long and dull night at Old Trafford, Manchester United and Valencia drew 0-0.

It was yet another disappointing performance from José Mourinho’s Manchester United and you have to believe his days are numbered as a result. Still, what did we learn?

1. Mourinho’s midfield misery

Good God, what was that??! Manchester United lined up with a midfield three containing Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic. This seemed fine at first, with Fellaini holding and Matic and Pogba box-to-box. Except Matic was at the base and Fellaini running box-to-box.

Now, with either man at the base of midfield the ball is going to get to Paul Pogba and the forwards much too slowly and usually in poor positions. But if Fellaini was holding then at least Nemanja Matic could play his natural role of box-to-box midfielder, surging forward and using his left foot to balance the side’s attack.

With Fellaini there, United had zero attacking threat when the Belgian was in possession, which meant that Pogba had no counter-balance and so had to go looking for the ball. This meant the forwards saw a limited amount of passes that put them into good positions, and so United were slow and stodgy.

Manchester United 0-0 Valencia FT:

Shots: 18-8
Pass accuracy: 85%-82%
Chances created: 10-7
Possession: 52.2%-47.8%

United are held to a goalless draw by Valencia at Old Trafford in Champions League Group H. pic.twitter.com/PAYdCmQkYb

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 2, 2018

To make matters worse, despite having two “defensive” midfielders on the pitch, United’s midfield was an open highway through to their defence. With minimal effort, Valencia were able to move their way through United and get at the defence. These two lugs just had almost no contribution to the game; almost because Fellaini did win a few headers when United inevitably began hoofing the ball his way late on.

2. Marcelino’s midfield majesty

Valencia lined up with a midfield two, which could have been outnumbered by United’s three. But as United’s three was basically just Pogba and a couple of dudes they found in the park, it actually ended up working out pretty well for Los Che.

Dani Parejo continued the excellent form he showed in the first game against Juventus except this time without both conceding and missing a penalty. The Spaniard effortlessly moved both with and without the ball and completed more passes (70) than anyone else on the pitch.

Then there was Geoffrey Kondogbia, the best French midfielder wearing no. 6 at Old Trafford tonight. Valencia’s lynchpin was absolutely colossal for Los Che, he was almost literally everywhere in a defensive sense. Playing with the tactical coverage and physical resilience of two men. Every time United looked like they were going to expose Valencia, up stepped Kondogbia to repel them.

3. Valencia expose Valencia

One of the only joys present in this game was the fact that Antonio Valencia was playing Valencia. The coincidence of that was made even more joyous by Valencia actually being a central figure in the game. Although unfortunately for United, that centrality came from just how spectacularly bad the United captain was.

An attacking full-back getting exposed in defence is nothing new, and often it’s a trade-off that many coaches will even “live with” in order to dominate things in attack. But Valencia was tepid and useless in attack, constantly hesitating and not taking the many great crossing chances that he was presented with to actually create a chance for his side.

And defensively? Defensive Tony V was an unmitigated disaster. Valencia were getting in down Valencia’s flank at will, and it wasn’t because they kept dribbling by him; he wasn’t even there to defend as he was constantly getting caught upfield. It was a genuinely miracle Valencia didn’t punish Valencia for defending so poorly.

4. Guedes fluffs his lines

The reason that Valencia drew 0-0 at Old Trafford instead of recording a historic victory was all down to one man. And no, it wasn’t David De Gea. It was Goncalo Guedes. The Portuguese phenom has often been a talisman for Valencia, and in terms of open play he was exactly that, carrying the ball well, driving down United’s right flank with ease.

But when it came to actually using the ball? Guedes was absolutely dismal. Whether he was making a final cross or, more frequently, cutting inside to shoot on goal, he was taking too long to making a decision and then going with the wrong one when he finally did. Only Marcus Rashford had as many shots (6) as Guedes, and at no point did it look like Guedes may actually decide the game as it did with Rashford.

Marcelino finally grew tired of his malarkey and took Guedes off with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The youngster sat on the bench with his head in his hands, but Marcelino reassured Guedes on the bench, very visibly supporting his player even though they could honestly have beaten United 3-0 or 5-0 had Guedes been on his game, ready to stake his claim to Old Trafford.

5. Lethargic Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku is often a player who gets undue amounts of criticism, particularly regarding his technique and touch. He is also reduced to a pure athlete, all about pace and power. His technique is so often overlooked and forgotten. Yet tonight against Valencia he looked like the player his detractors so often say he is, clumsily miscontrolling simple passes and trying to dribble by his opponents and then falling over the ball. And yet, he didn’t even show his pace and power – getting outmuscled and outrun by every Valencia defender.

In every way, Lukaku looked exhausted. A shadow of himself and the dangerous striker he has proven he can be.

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