3 men who let Jose Mourinho down against Tottenham

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There is no doubting that Monday night was a disaster for Manchester United. They were blown away by Tottenham at Old Trafford and were eventually beaten 3-0.

This was always going to be a big game for United, especially after their defeat against Brighton a week ago, where they put in one of the poorest performances that we have seen from United under Mourinho. 

The pressure was also growing on Mourinho. There was a clear disharmony between him and the board, particularly after they failed to secure his main transfer targets before the window closed.

Mourinho made six changes to his starting XI following the defeat to Brighton, including three of his back four, with Chris Smalling and Phil Jones starting at center back, and both Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof were left out.

There was clearly a frantic nature about the way United played in the first half, and there was almost a desperation about the way they played. They should have been ahead though, with Romelu Lukaku missing the target after rounding Hugo Lloris. 

They fell apart after the breakthrough, and within a few minutes, it was as good as game over. Harry Kane found space to head home at the far post before Lucas Moura fired home after some woeful defending in the United back four. They never really recovered, and Moura breezed past Chris Smalling before adding a third and adding the final nail to the coffin.

It was a disappointing night for United and Mourinho. There were some really poor performances from his players, and here are three players who let Mourinho down on Monday night.

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#1 Chris Smalling

It was a massive surprise for everyone seeing United lining up with a back three against Tottenham. When the team news came out, it looked for all the world like it would be a back four, with three midfielders in front.

Instead, it was Smalling who lined up in the center of the back three with Phil Jones and Ander Herrera either side. In this case, Smalling had to be the leader of the defense, particularly given the uncertainty that was sure to be there with a new combination.

However, Smalling was pretty much all over the place, and never really lead the back three. No one got close to Harry Kane for the first goal, and Smalling must take some responsibility for that, given that he was the senior member of the defense.

But worse was to come with the second goal. He looked to play offside against Christian Eriksen and then was caught woefully out of position when the ball was crossed into the box.

#2 Ander Herrera

It almost seems harsh to put too much blame on Herrera for the performance, given that he was playing in an unfamiliar center back role. He has played as a center midfielder throughout his career, even though we have seen him in a slightly deeper role at times when Mourinho has given him a man-marking job.

It is difficult to fault him too much positionally given the fact it is a totally different role for him, so that is almost something Mourinho will be prepared to forgive. Something that cannot be forgiven though is the effort put in by Herrera for Tottenham’s second goal.

As the ball came towards Lucas Moura, it was probably set up for a 50/50 challenge between him and Herrera. However, Herrera appeared to duck out of the challenge, which was at best lazy and was at worst cowardly.

When your side is struggling, and in desperate need of a result, you can’t afford to be bottling out of challenges like that.

#3 Paul Pogba

The enigma that is Paul Pogba continues to be a problem for Mourinho at Manchester United. There have been constant questions asked over what his best position is and what system to use to get the best out of him.

There continues to be debate over his future amid interest from Barcelona, and this hasn’t been helped by comments from his agent Mino Raiola on social media over the last month.

In the first half against Tottenham, Pogba did a decent job, he drove his team forward, and linked up well with the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard. However, when things went downhill in the second half, he seemed to vanish, and he had little to no impact on the game.

Pogba is one of Mourinho’s most important players, and someone he needs to rely on in pressure situations like this. For Pogba to disappear like this is just not good enough from a man of his quality.