Manchester United fans were absolutely furious with their defenders in the performance vs Tottenham Hotspurs on Monday night.
Jose Mourinho decided to make three changes to his backline with only Luke Shaw surviving the shock loss against Brighton last Sunday.
Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones all came in with Ashley Young and in particular Victor Lindelof along with Eric Bailly paying the price for the defeat.
United were actually playing fairly well and could’ve capitalised on their opportunities to record an easy home win.
Their attempts in terms of attacking was far better than the previous two games combined but it was the defence that crumbled.
United have forgotten how to defend counter-attacks and corners. Disastrous.
— MUFC Bible (@mufc_bible) August 27, 2018
Can’t wait for somebody to gif Jones bundling into Herrera 😄
You’ve gotta laugh, Reds. Because if you don’t, you’ll cry #MUFC 🆗— Jonathan Shrager (@JonathanShrager) August 27, 2018
Awful defending. 2-0 Spurs (Lucas Moura) #MUFC
— Ste Howson (@MrStephenHowson) August 27, 2018
The defensive shape for Moura’s strike was abysmal. Truly. #MUFC
— Tom McDermott (@MrTomMcDermott) August 27, 2018
Twice in two games we have conceded the first goal and totally fallen to pieces.
Heads have absolutely gone #MUFC
— Andy Widdowson (@andygwiddowson) August 27, 2018
Hopefully we don't see Phil Jones ever in a United shirt again. #mufc
— Simply Utd (@SimplyUtd) August 27, 2018
As much as Mourinho will be furious with how the team fell apart, he’ll certainly feel his decision to try and bring in a centre-back this summer was correct.
The Red Devils’ board clearly didn’t back their manager and opted against investing in what is proving to be a crucial area.
Along with how poor the defending was for the first two goals in particular, it was how they crumbled mentally that was so worrying.
Perhaps the Manchester United board will reconsider and invest in January but it may be too late, at least for Jose.