Comment By Odiko Godwin|Twitter: @OdikoGodwin
Manutd were outclassed by rivals Man City - in a fiercely contested derby. Here are the five key points gathered from the clash from the Manutd point of view.
RASHFORD SHOULD HAVE STARTED
The English attacker was again overlooked by Jose Mourinho from the starting line up and instead chose to start Jese Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan - a decision He (Jose Mourinho) later regretted as expressed in his post match briefing. Rashford made his debut for the England U-21 during the International break and ensured it was a debut to remember; as he netted thrice, leaving many expecting the talented Manutd number 19 to start in the Derby. He was introduced at the start of the second half and his introduction immediately brought life into the match - creating goal scoring chance out of his first attacking move only for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to fluff the opportunity. The 18 year old has now proven that no matter the tactics Mourinho wishes to deploy for a game - He should form an integral part of his plan and should be starting matches for Manutd.
MOURINHO HAS GOT MIDFIELD HEADACHE
Paul Pogba was acquired for a record breaking £93.2m to help resolve the midfield problem United suffered under LVG. Against City, the midfield was totally outclassed by the Pep Guardiola's midfield setup. It might still be reasoned, that Pogba's best position is not in the Central midfield position but as an attacking midfielder; where he loves to express his skills without fear as he showed at Juventus with Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira offering cover. But here at United, he is been used as a midfield combatant alongside Maroune Fellaini. Which the French international isn't yet comfortable with and its still causing United midfield to suffer as was experienced in the match - that later saw Ander Herrera brought in to give cover and Pogba asked to advance further up the pitch. With just 4 league matches played Mourinho could yet be pardon if he is still trying to sought out his perfect midfield combination. But the earlier, the better.
ROONEY STILL VERY MUCH VALUABLE
The England and Manutd captain has received criticism recently from fans and media alike for not living up to expectation. But the 30 year old has shown again why he is still trusted by his managers at club and country. Rooney was by far United's only stand out performer in a pathetic first half that saw the Reds go down twice to strikes from Kelvin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho. He was all around trading passes, creating openings and making defensive runs up and down the pitch to cover up spaces. He was later moved to the right side of midfield to accommodate Pogba in the advance midfield position in the second half. He showed with a decent delivery straight to Zlatan Ibrahimovic - for a header the forward gifted the goal keeper, that he is well capable to play in any position the manager deems him fit to play in.
TIME TO GET SMALLING IN?
Blind is known for his intellectual awareness to make up for his lack of pace and strength in defense. But the Netherland international was culpable; for being lethargic and indecisive in allowing De Bruyne launch unto a loose ball from Iheancho's header before calmly finishing pass De gea in goal to gift City the opener. Though, he later came up with some decent performances, it is still not harsh if many begin to agitate for Smalling - who was United's best defender last season to be paired alongside the ever impressive Eric Bailly.
ZLATAN COULD HAVE DONE BETTER
The Swedish netted his fourth league goal of the season, but could have even scored more and win the game for United if he had made better use of the chances presented before him. He was a benefactor from a City defensive blunder spear headed by City's goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, but Ibrahimovic could not make good use of it; directing his weak effort towards one of City's defender who was on hand to cover the area after their defensive mix up. He was also gifted a beautiful cross from the right by Wayne Rooney only for the striker to head into the hands of the waiting Bravo. He had other chances to increase his tally in the game but failed to do so and United were duly punished as they lost the derby to City leaving many fans frustrated and dejected.
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