Manchester United lost their first game of the season on Saturday, as a lacklustre performance and two defensive errors saw Huddersfield win 2-1.
There was something reminiscent of the Louis van Gaal era about the game. United had 78 per cent possession but just three shots on target, the same as their opponents.
The image of Huddersfield fans ahead of kick-off, their prophetic words about how “passion and desire” are more important than size and experience, did the rounds on social media all weekend.
Most of the United team looked like they couldn’t be bothered for much of the 90 minutes, with the fire in their bellies having seemingly disappeared.
Some were quick to blame this result on the tactics Jose Mourinho had employed against Liverpool. United set up to stop their rivals rather than go for the kill themselves, which was undoubtedly frustrating. When you consider how poor Liverpool’s defence is, you have to wonder whether the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford could have inflicted some real damage on them that day had they been instructed to do so.
However, it’s worth noting that Jurgen Klopp’s team have the second-best defensive home record in the league this season, behind United. They have conceded just once at Anfield.
Arsenal visited them with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, yet left on the back of a 4-0 defeat. The spankings that Manchester City and Tottenham have given Liverpool on the road show how porous their defence can be, but we’ve seen no evidence of that at Anfield yet.
If the players can’t motivate themselves for a trip to Huddersfield, who will likely be fighting relegation this season, then the 0-0 draw with Liverpool simply becomes a convenient excuse.
"When you lose a match because of attitude, that is really bad," Mourinho said after the game. “I don't even remember a friendly match when our attitude was so poor. We could have a second goal and a draw but it would have been undeserved. [If] I was a Manchester United supporter, I would be really disappointed because you can accept losing because the opponent had more quality, but not because the opponent had more attitude."
Herrera echoed the manager’s assessment when talking to the press and was clearly irritated by the way they had performed.
"In the first 30 or 35 minutes, we didn’t play good,” Herrera conceded after the game. “They were more passionate than us, more aggressive. We cannot accept that.”
The Spaniard was giving an honest assessment but it didn’t go down well with Mourinho at all. Herrera should be relieved that so many of United’s midfielders are currently out injured because the manager probably wouldn’t choose to select him in the coming weeks otherwise.
"I heard Ander Herrera in the flash interviews said the attitude and desire was poor, oh my God,” Mourinho said. “When a player thinks that then I think all players should go to the press conference and explain why because I can't explain. It concerns me of course. If it happened today then why can't it happen tomorrow?"
Mourinho is right. It’s fairly damning for the players representing United, earning the money that they are, to have a poor attitude on the pitch.
But as manager, it's his job to address this. In a week where Mourinho gave an interview to French television channels to hail how “special” and “magic” PSG were, while also discussing his future departure from United, he’s probably not in the best position to question the commitment and attitude of others.
United were lacking leadership on the pitch and while the players have to take responsibility for this, Mourinho must take a share of the blame too. After all, he's the one who's supposed to motivate them; he's the one who's supposed to ensure they’re mentally ready to get the job done. And he didn’t.
Nemanja Vidic gave a well-timed interview with The Sunday Times, where he discussed the amount of times his nose had been broken when trying to stop an opponent.
“You can fix your nose, but if you let somebody score the goal your pride cannot be fixed,” the former United captain said. “If you looked closely on the pitch you'd have seen others were bigger than me, but I understood this: that if I was going to win a challenge I had to go 150 per cent. Not 80 per cent, not 90 per cent, 150 per cent. That's mental strength.”
How many players in United’s side on Saturday would be prepared to get their nose broken to stop the opposition from scoring? The players need to up their commitment and Mourinho is responsible for making that happen. With a tough test against Spurs at the weekend, there is plenty of work that needs to be done - and quickly.
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