Manchester derby frightened Mourinho – Robson

Joe Williams

Stewart Robson thinks the Manchester derby scared Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho into changing his tactics and believes Mourinho is now confused as to what his strongest line-up is.

Victory in the Community Shield was followed up by three successive wins to start their Premier League campaign before everything changed when they faced arch-rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Only two wins have followed their 2-1 loss to City in late September and former Arsenal star Robson doesn’t think Mourinho has known his best side from that moment on.

“The first three games he played with the same players,” Robson told ESPN FC.

“He played the same system and everyone was talking about how they knew what their jobs were, they knew what they had to do when they had the ball, they knew what to do when they didn’t have the ball.

“Everything seemed to be going much better than it did under Louis van Gaal. Then he changed it for some reason against Manchester City.

“Whether he was frightened of the game against Manchester City when he thought they might play out from the back and cause them problems, which they did eventually, he played Mkhitaryan, he played Lingard, then took them off at half-time.

“From that moment on he’s never known what his best tactics should be, or his best side.”