The more things change the more that they stay the same. Jose Mourinho has only 15 points to show from his first ten games in charge at Manchester United. His predecessor, Louis van Gaal had 22 over his first ten at Old Trafford. He lasted just two seasons. Van Gaal’s predecessor, David Moyes, had just 17 points during his first ten.
Moyes was sacked in less than a full season. Thus, the third manager to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson is off to a very rough start while the two that followed Sir Alex were considered failed regimes.
United haven’t scored a goal in their last three Premier League fixtures, and now find themselves eighth, yes, eighth, in the table!
Two of their last three league fixtures resulted in goalless draws, thus inviting endless analogies to last season’s tedium. Although to be fair Saturday wasn’t boring, as the Red Devils had numerous scoring chances. They just blew them all.
There’s blame all around, but you can start at the top with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The striker has blown a few easy scoring chances lately, opening himself to criticism. His giant outsized ego makes his an easy target to be ripped as well.
Ibrahimovic arrived at Old Trafford with authority; playing all 90 minutes in each of his first four games and accumulating four goals in that time.
Since then, he has gone goalless in his last six. That’s 540 minutes of scoreless action, and it’s now been 588 minutes since his last goal in league competition.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t really do much on the pitch other than score, so when he’s not bagging braces, what does he give you? More importantly, what can Mourinho really do about it? Wayne Rooney is in a form so poor that he could soon be out the door. He’s been rightfully dropped. After a great debut season at United last year, Anthony Martial has been pretty much missing in action this campaign.
He’s been hurt, but also ineffective when match fit. Marcus Rashford has a lot of youth and potential. Maybe more opportunities for him? However, how much can he fix the issues all by himself? That’s a lot to ask of the English teenager. If Mourinho can’t help to get Ibrahimovic right, and quick, this could be a very long season.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.