His Manchester United side have struggled massively this season so far: they lie in a paltry eight position, seven points off top spot, currently occupied by their rivals Manchester City. Mourinho has notably fallen out with stars like Paul Pogba.
#1 Marcus Rashford
After the Newcastle game, Mourinho even criticised the attacker, questioning whether he could cope with the demands of playing for such a big club; not the sort of pressure that should be placed on someone at such a tender place position in their career.The early outstanding promise shown by Rashford when he burst onto the scene under Louis van Gaal in 2015-2016 has been tempered by Mourinho’s control of the youngster. Despite reaching double figures for goals in his previous two campaigns, Rashford has been limited to 2 starts so far in 2018-2019.
His main competitor for a starting position, Alexis Sanchez, was last season’s big-money arrival but he has failed to live up to the hype since joining from Arsenal and looks completely lost in Mourinho’s team. Rashford must look at his contemporary Kylian Mbappe getting the chance at roughly the same age to showcase his talents and flourishing and rue his current position at Manchester United.
#2 Paul Pogba
Perhaps this is what annoyed Mourinho; perhaps there is something else behind the scenes we don’t know about. Too often, though, the Frenchman has played like an individual not interested in helping his manager or team. He has still, admittedly, contributed 2 goals and 2 assists but hasn’t dominated games in the way he is capable of.
Pogba played the best football of his career under Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus, where he enjoyed the trust of his manager and adhered to his tactical system. If Mourinho could communicate more effectively with his player, instead of openly ostracising him, there’s no question that Pogba’s performances will improve as a result.
#3 Eric Bailly
Bailly was substituted embarrassingly early against Newcastle and it summed up his relationship with his manager perfectly. Since his arrival, Mourinho hasn’t fancied the Ivorian defender and his appearances have slowly diminished in number.
On his day, however, he is far superior to Mourinho’s other options in the position: a confident Bailly is powerful, energetic, and commanding, as opposed to the nervy and clumsy Smalling, Lindelof, and Phil Jones. Discussion of moves to Chelsea and Arsenal have already started in the media but Bailly still has time to win back his place in the first-team at Old Trafford.
#4 Andreas Pereira
Since then, however, he’s found only 2 starts and 1 substitute appearance in the league. Mourinho has previously frozen out quality flair players at previous clubs, like Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne at Chelsea, preferring those who fit into his conservative system, and Pereira, unfortunately, seems to be suffering the same way.
Manchester United have a rich tradition of youth, going back to the 1990’s when David Beckham, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes burst onto the scene together, and one has to think that Sir Alex Ferguson may have been more trusting of youngster like Rashford and Pereira to galvanise his team.
#5 Anthony Martial
Martial will never be a player to focus on his defensive duties, something which Mourinho can’t abide, but his talent is too great to allow this to affect matters. The Frenchman is behind Alexis Sanchez, Fred, and Jesse Lingard in the pecking order, despite that trio’s woeful and ineffectual form.
