Former Premier League managers Ruud Gullit and Gus Poyet have criticised Manchester United for their performance against Valencia on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils produced another insipid display as they fell to a 2-1 Champions League defeat at the Mestalla, and Gullit and Poyet were not impressed with their efforts.
“If you are recovering, Manchester [United] was recovering, to lose today maybe brings back problems,” Poyet said on beIN SPORTS. “How did [Paul] Pogba perform? How did [Romelu] Lukaku?”
"It was hard to watch!"
"To lose today maybe brings back problems."
Gus Poyet and @GullitR react to Manchester United's defeat to Valencia, believing it was a missed opportunity to restore some confidence around the club.#beINUCL #UCL #MUFC pic.twitter.com/NgB6ByNvvR
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) December 12, 2018
Gullit added: “I had to follow, of course, Man United, but I saw the Ajax-Bayern game… It was a fantastic game to watch. Nevertheless I had to watch also Man United, and it was hard to watch, the difference between the two sides [United and Ajax].”
OPINION
Gullit has a real point, here. Ajax took the game to Bayern and really tried everything they could to win the group, whereas United were seemingly happy just to qualify in second behind Juventus. There was no desire from Jose Mourinho’s side, no real attacking intent and they looked flat throughout. The likes of Fred, Pogba and Lukaku will have done their chances no good going forward and they will look at this game as a missed opportunity to make an impact. It was the same old story with United this season, really, they simply lacked cohesion and fluidity. There seems to be no plan to their attacks, no real style of playing that they believe will win them games. When you watch Liverpool and Manchester City there is a clear plan in place of how they are going to play, you don’t see that with United. Wednesday’s defeat was another example of that, and it leaves Mourinho with more questions than answers moving forward.