Manchester United are out of the Champions League after a shock defeat to Sevilla last night, and Jose Mourinho can blame no one but himself for this immense failure.
The Red Devils looked the big favourites against Sevilla, one of the easier-looking ties for English sides in the draw for this season’s Champions League last-16 round.
MORE: £89m Paul Pogba trolled after he’s overshadowed by £7m Sevilla ace in shock Man Utd loss
Mourinho, however, seemed to stifle United with a number of his decisions in the way he set the side up to play, and we’ve picked out five key ways the Portuguese got it so badly wrong in a competition he badly needed to go far in…
Too cautious in both legs
This is obvious to anyone who watched either game – United treated Sevilla like they were Real Madrid or Barcelona and simply afforded them far too much respect over the course of the tie.
Sevilla obviously showed they are no pushovers, but were given far too much time on the ball and clearly grew in confidence as they stunned Mourinho’s side late on at Old Trafford.
A team like United should be able to take the game to a club of Sevilla’s size, with the Spaniards remarkably winning in England for the first time last night – a reminder of just how humiliating a result this is for United.
Putting fear into his players
Before the game, Mourinho commented that his side’s win over Liverpool was not important in comparison to the upcoming games against Sevilla in the Champions League and Brighton in the FA Cup.
This had two adverse effects – firstly, it put too much emphasis on a tricky game for United, and it’s easy to see his players played with fear, particularly in the second leg after their manager’s quotes.
Secondly, it down-played his side’s fine achievements as they got the balance just right in their win over Liverpool, with the team far more polished from front to back in that game than they ever were against Sevilla.
Once the master of mind-games and psychology, Mourinho stunted his own squad here with the wrong message.
No Paul Pogba
Remarkably, United’s £89million club-record signing did not start either leg against Sevilla – no wonder his confidence is also shot right now.
Before his injury, the France international started this season as one of United’s most important players, with many pundits agreeing the team didn’t look the same without him in it.
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Against Chelsea, Pogba also looked much improved after finally being used in his preferred role. While he may not have been fit enough to start last night, the damage was arguably already done after Mourinho ditched him in the first leg.
Pogba is far from the perfect midfielder, and he’s never likely to be the box-to-box player some would like, but he’s a fantastic creator and can, in the right set-up, lift those around him with his spark and quality, though Mourinho is yet to work out the best way of doing that – either that, or he’s simply not allowing it.
Persisting with Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez is a world class player whose time may well come at United, but this arguably was not the game for him.
The Chile international has been thrust into the team since his January move from Arsenal, but it’s clear he hasn’t settled or adjusted to the side just yet.
It’s not easy to hit the ground running after moving in the middle of the season, so there’s no question Sanchez could do with a breather with many better attacking options available based on current form, which brings us onto our final point…
Reacting far too late
While there are questions to be asked about why Juan Mata in particular did not start after looking superb in recent games, it’s even more criminal just how long it took Mourinho to introduce him.
Not until the 77th minute did the Spanish playmaker get onto the pitch, with United already a goal down and losing all shape and control of the game. Just a minute later it was 2-0 and game over.
Mata put in a near-perfect display in the win over Liverpool, linking midfield and attack like few others at United can do, but he was brought on last night at a stage in the game where he could no longer realistically make a difference, whereas starting him could have made all the difference.
Anthony Martial’s introduction came at the same time and could also have been used earlier given how much Sanchez was struggling.
All in all, it was too reactive and not nearly proactive enough from Mourinho, whose future you’d imagine has to be in doubt after seismic nature of this season’s failure in Europe.