Analysis: Manchester United architect their own fall versus Derby

Manchester United shockingly exited the Carabao Cup in their first outing of the competition against Derby County. Here’s how they killed their own quest for it.

Manchester United were shockingly kicked out of the Carabao Cup following a defeat to Championship side Derby County. The Red Devils tied the game at 2-2 at the Old Trafford in the space of 90 minutes before losing against Frank Lampard’s side by an 8-7 margin on a penalty shootout.

Juan Mata scored very early on for Jose Mourinho’s side and looked to have put the team on course for a victory by a big margin. However, those classic Jose Mourinho tactics came into play again as the Portuguese boss asked his team to sit back and wait for the final whistle to blow hoping to get into the next round.

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Since the opening goal, United sat back and welcomed the pressure from Derby County in what was likely to be an overconfident mentality. A single-minded side led by Frank Lampard in the dugout happily to advantage of the sloppiness in different departments of the pitch and took command of the game.

Liverpool’s product Harry Wilson curled in a superb equalizer at the stroke of the hour mark to restore parity at the Old Trafford. Sergio Romero’s sending off seemed to be have worsened things after the Argentinian goalie handled the ball outside the box. Later, Jack Marriott struck to give the visitors a lead just five minutes ahead of the full-time whistle.

But a stretch of long stoppage time gave Manchester United some hope and the prayers by their fans did pay off as Marouane Fellaini struck a header past the Rams’ keeper to force the match into penalties. All the kicks were duly converted until Phil Jones fluffed his lines from twelve paces out to gift Derby County the victory.

The blame for this victory must clearly be put on Jose Mourinho’s shoulders for his extremely conservative tactics. There was absolutely no need from the former Chelsea boss to insist on his team playing a defensive match against an opponent which should have been seen off at half-time.

The Manchester United boss has been slammed by several pundits for his defensive tactics which usually lead to failure while Paul Pogba also indirectly seemed to question his manager’s eye for lack of attacking football in the post-match interview after the draw against Wolves last weekend.

Statistically too, Derby County’s domination was clearly seen after Manchester United’s horrid display. The Rams held 53% position and troubled Manchester United’s goal with 6 shots on target, two more than the hosts managed. Derby played out 498 passes as opposed to 446 from the Premier League giants which was a huge dagger for United.

The Red Devils are in deep mess this season after already falling eight points behind league leaders Liverpool with just six fixtures having passed so far in the season. Their league cup quest has also all but ended prematurely whereas there does not seem to be a realistic chance for Jose’s team to lift the Champions League.

The FA Cup is the only option that is left for Jose Mourinho if he wants to finish the season with some kind of silverware. The third season malady seems to have stricken the Manchester United boss again with his sacking looking only like a matter of time. Do you think Mourinho should? And if the manager is staying, who deserves the blame- the players for their overconfidence or Ed Woodward for his stingy attitude regarding transfers this summer?