Manchester United’s possible progression into the Round of 16 was delayed by another Matchday after they suffered a shock 1-0 loss to FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday.
Jose Mourinho’s men have only themselves to blame for their profligacy, after numerous chances went begging in the first half. Basel found their feet in the final 45 minutes and rightly punished the visitors in the dying stages of the match, just when it looked like they would secure the point to guarantee top spot.
Michael Lang struck in the final minute of regulation time to give the hosts all three points and leave things in the balance in Group A. And Mourinho’s men rightly got the stick after a thoroughly poor performance on the night, with fans venting their frustrations on Romelu Lukaku in particular.
Embarrassing from Manchester United. Really timid second half performance. Have to start taking their chances.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) November 22, 2017
Manchester United punished after missing numerous chances in the first half. Make no mistake though, second half performance was absolutely abject. Full-back positions a glaring weakness.
— Chris Winterburn (@cmwinterburn) November 22, 2017
Blind needs a cataract, Darmian needs spine, Herrera needs a brain. Rest of us need tranquilizers. Sign up the partners @ManUtd
— Clark Joseph Kent (@SemperFiUtd) November 22, 2017
Deserve that for their second half performance. Darmian not a Manchester United Player
— Keith Gillespie (@KeithGillespie7) November 22, 2017
Lukaku is not contributing anything to the team, just standing behind defenders waiting for the ball. This is what Manchester United paid 70 m for.. Lol
— J*O*H*N ︻┳テ╦═── (@i_am_jonoscar) November 22, 2017
So without pogba we are basically Burnley, we are not ready yet @ManUtd
— UTUNU (@dualviews) November 22, 2017
Basel 1-0 Manchester United pic.twitter.com/rBKFFaVds5
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 22, 2017
PSG have a better goal difference in the Champions League group stages than we do in the Premier League…
— Ryan ? (@Vintage_Utd) November 22, 2017
Lukaku misses too many key chances
Not clinical enough to be a ManUtd player, Everton was more his level
If we had a Morata or an Aguero we would top of the league
— Manchesterspeak (@Manchesterspeak) November 22, 2017
Lukaku hasn’t scored a genuine one one on one this season. Seems to hit the keeper everytime.
— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) November 22, 2017
Mourinho hate is ridiculous. He can’t score the goals for Lukaku and Fellaini! Both missed sitters tonight. Score them and we’re all ecstatic with another win.#MUFC pic.twitter.com/wjf1lRWOfJ
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) November 23, 2017
Jose Mourinho was also blamed for his decision to exclude Henrikh Mkhitaryan as well as his substitutions.
I hope Mourinho takes complete responsibility for the fact that after Pogba went off his team couldn’t create a single opportunity
— Pilib De Brún (@Malachians) November 22, 2017
For a top coach, those subs were a joke. You take off your best player & only creative CM for a CDM. You then sub off your main source of inspiration from the wings for a slow ST. You’re left with an XI with two tall strikers, zero actual wingers and fall-backs that can’t cross.
— Jaydn (@JaydnMUFC) November 22, 2017
Spent weeks analyzing Mkhitaryan’s dip in form and attributing it to the absence of Pogba. Wondered how Jose could keep selecting him with some of his performances but the minute Pogba is back Jose drops him. Jose is weird. I don’t understand Jose. ?
— Anna_MUFC (@mufc_anna) November 22, 2017
Mkhitaryan excluded 2 gameweeks in a row is interesting… Wonder what happened there.
— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) November 22, 2017
Mourinho should find a way to make this team a lil creative without pogba,, you just can’t tell me only one man holds the key
— UTUNU (@dualviews) November 22, 2017