Mourinho still under pressure after 0-0 draw with Valencia

Manchester United showed resolve in their 0-0 draw against Valencia but a resolution to their problems looks no nearer. Adam Bate was at Old Trafford on a night that Jose Mourinho had to endure his players being booed from the field once more…

On the face of it, Manchester United's 0-0 draw with Valencia was the best result that Jose Mourinho has conjured from his team in quite a while. They remain on course to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. But the boos that greeted the final whistle showed that this was a night on which Mourinho's problems only deepened.

United showed some resolve. With free-kicks and corners being lobbed into the Valencia box, they were probing for the breakthrough right to the end. The story here at Old Trafford was not that these players did not want to win this game for their manager. The problem - Mourinho's problem - is that they did not know how to win this game for their manager.



There were some signs of life early on. Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw were sharp in the tackle. There was even a semblance of some pressing to win the ball back inside the Valencia half. But attacking coherence rarely seems to be more than a passing acquaintance for this team and they were soon reduced to the more individualistic efforts that have become typical.

Valencia were very different. They are not among the favourites to progress deep into the Champions League but showcased the sort of clever passing that's now more familiar from the visitors to Old Trafford. They got bodies around Michy Batshuayi - how Romelu Lukaku must envy that - and in Daniel Parejo possess a playmaker with the ability to pick a pass.


The intricate play did not always have an end product, largely due to Goncalo Guedes' wastefulness in front of goal, but it did show promise. In contrast, the poverty of ambition in United's game was best illustrated by the sight of David de Gea pointing upfield and aiming long kicks to Marouane Fellaini in the hope of winning a few knockdowns.

It is difficult to be persuaded that this is a style of football that just needs more time to gel. Mourinho knows it too. He hinted as much afterwards. "There are things that it is difficult for me to say and if I say it will not be good for me," he told reporters in the post-match press conference. "It will give another reason to criticise me and I think you have enough.

"So I prefer just to say that when last season we finished second, we finished runners-up in the FA Cup, we won our group in the Champions League, and I thought it was a fantastic season, I knew why I was saying that." It was easy to infer that he does not believe that he has the players to produce the football that Manchester United's rivals routinely deliver.

How persuaded Manchester United's supporters will be by this explanation remains to be seen. Mourinho appealed to them in his programme notes by ramming home the point that the club is bigger than any player. Regardless of any concerns over the manager, that is likely to have struck a chord with those unimpressed by Paul Pogba and the rest.

"All of my life, I have followed certain golden rules," he wrote. "One of them is that a team can lose matches - that is just a part of football - but the team must never, ever lose its dignity. The team must fight, work, compete, win duels, be humble, and then at the end of the game every player must be exhausted because of the hard work they have given for the club, for the fans and for each other.

"That leads to another pair of golden rules which must be followed: the team is always more important than the individual, and the crest on the chest is more important than the name on the back of the shirt. This is me. This is how I work. This is what I ask of my team, my group, my club."

It is likely to have been appreciated. The match-going supporters at Old Trafford are reluctant to turn on their manager and the atmosphere was anything but toxic. They were chanting their songs in the Bishop Blaize pub off Chester Road more than two hours before kick-off - a good 90 minutes before the team itself showed up, delayed due to traffic problems after being denied a police escort.

When the players did make it onto the pitch, there was plenty of patience on show from supporters, even as the team huffed and puffed in the Manchester night. There was even a truncated chant of the manager's name midway through the first half. But it was the second half urgings for the team to attack that were rather more persistent.

Unfortunately, there was precious little for the fans to latch onto, particularly while the big names continue to falter. Mourinho brought them all back for this one, even Alexis Sanchez, restored to the starting line-up after being omitted from the squad at the weekend. The Chilean tried hard but his efforts were interspersed with delayed shots and overhit crosses.

When Mourinho hooked him in favour of Anthony Martial, there were a few ironic cheers that soon gave way to roars of disapproval at the time Sanchez was taking to trudge from the field. As for the other key figures, Paul Pogba's bag of tricks was as mixed as ever, while Lukaku looks in need of a rest - his form waning by the week.

There is little chance of that. After three home games without a win, Mourinho cannot afford another slip up when old rival Rafa Benitez brings Newcastle to town on Saturday. If his players reproduce these effort levels, they should have enough to claim the three points. On this evidence, the long-term prospects for manager and team are not so encouraging.

Credit: Skysports.com