Time for Mourinho to try these three outcasts at Man United
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After a humbling 4-0 away defeat to Chelsea last time out, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is under pressure to turn things around with his new club sat six points off the top of the Premier League.
More than anything, the personnel the Portuguese is plumping for in his starting lineup is under scrutiny, with questions about the continued absence of a number of stars beginning to arise.
Here, we pick out three of the lesser-seen Red Devils that could help propel the Old Trafford side up the table:
Michael Carrick
Although not completely out in the cold, Carrick appears to be reserved purely for the cup competitions under Mourinho, with his only two 90-minute outings of the campaign coming in the Europa League and EFL Cup.
His last display, in the former competition against Fenerbahce, was a reminder of how skilled the 35-year-old is at managing United’s tempo, something that the side could do with in top-flight assignments.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
A poor outing in the Manchester Derby followed by a side strain has scuppered the summer signing’s start at United, but the Armenian wasn’t even afforded a spot on the subs’ bench against Chelsea.
With Wayne Rooney no longer clogging up a position behind the striker, Mkhitaryan could dovetail well with Juan Mata in a fluid, position-swapping role from the right-hand side.
Memphis Depay
Depay has logged just 12 minutes of top-flight football this season, in three separate substitute appearances.
It is hard to believe that a man that scored 22 Eredivisie goals the season before arriving at Old Trafford has completely lost his mojo at the age of 22.
Neither Anthony Martial nor Marcus Rashford have nailed down a spot on the left wing – probably because they are not left wingers – so Depay could surely be given a chance to regain his form?
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