Will Jose Mourinho Make Manchester United Stubborn For Impending Games At Liverpool And Chelsea?

Manchester United’s 1-1 stalemate at home to Stoke City won’t be fondly remembered by the Old Trafford faithful. Yet, despite the scoreline, there were still some minute positives to take from the game.

While United’s finishing was an eyesore, the amount of chances and the way in which they were created was refreshing to see, plus Mourinho’s decision to keep his captain Wayne Rooney on the bench and stick with the same line-up that was so impressive during the first half of United’s demolition of Leicester City a week earlier suggests that he has found his preferred starting eleven.

But with a tricky run of four fixtures to play after the international break and before the end of October it will now be interesting to see whether the Portuguese manager sticks with the team that has been so direct and threatening over the last two Premier League games. Or whether he reverts to type and tries to make United compact, stubborn, and difficult to beat in order to grind out victories away at Liverpool and Chelsea.

In between these trips to Anfield and Stamford Bridge on Monday October 17 and Sunday October 23, respectively, United also have a home game with Fenerbache to contend with on Thursday October 20, while Mourinho’s return to London will be followed by their last sixteen EFL Cup encounter with Manchester City at Old Trafford on Wednesday October 26. United round out October with a home match against Burnley on Saturday October 29.

Despite the infancy of the Premier League season, it’s already looking integral that United get something from their games at Liverpool and Chelsea. A Liverpool victory would see them take a six point lead over United, and it would underline the suggestion that, under Jurgen Klopp, United’s most fervent rivals have leapfrogged them.

Meanwhile, following 3-0 and 2-1 defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool, respectively, Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are looking particularly vulnerable. If United are unable to match or at least come close to equalling these results then they will once again lose face in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Jose Mourinho has some long hard thinking to do about exactly how he’ll line-up his United side, but these are the type of encounters that he has revelled in throughout his career. Of course because of his two tenures at the helm of Chelsea he’s never experienced the away dugout at Stamford Bridge. But back in 2013/2014 he masterminded a staunch Chelsea to 1-0 victory at the Etihad over Manuel Pellegrini’s heavily fancied Manchester City, and he’s taken particular joy in stopping, restricting, and then punishing the likes of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, and, probably most memorably, Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool in their own backyards when they were galvanised to attain results.

Chelsea’s victory at Anfield is now seen as the quintessential Mourinho performance. He encouraged his players to kill the tempo and seemingly time-waste from the opening minutes, while he didn’t just park the bus, but he basically burnt-out, squatted inside, and told his players to shiv, needle and attack Liverpool’s players in anyway possible from within it to stop the likes of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, and Raheem Sterling, who had been so dangerous for Liverpool in their pursuit for their first title since 1990. Chelsea’s 2-0 win allowed Manchester City to take control of the title race, which Pellegrini’s team went on to win.

Following Mourinho’s lavish spending, and the fact that United are five points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, who won their opening six Premier League matches in a daunting fashion and have already beaten United, while even the other clubs ahead of United - Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool - have recorded impressive victories over Manchester City and at home and away to Chelsea, respectively, the time is nigh for Mourinho to impose himself on the league with his own similar victories.

It just remains to be the seen if he trusts the players and set-up of the last two fixtures, which have produced two of United’s most impressive performances since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, to try and get these wins. Or if he will use the tricks of the trade to frustrate and exploit in order to get his desired results.

There will be rose-tinted purists that insist it’s not the Manchester United way, but they forget that Sir Alex Ferguson did the same throughout his tenure, most notably against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final in 2008, against Arsenal on numerous occasions, and even Mourinho’s own Chelsea and Real Madrid sides. What’s most important is the win or a positive result. And United will need both against Liverpool and Chelsea otherwise they already risk being cut adrift from those above.

[Images via Getty/Clive Brunskill]