WE’VE all heard about Jose and his “parking the bus ” tactics recently when the mighty Manchester United visited Anfield to play Liverpool. Most of the neutrals would have been scratching their heads wondering why a team on that kind of form coming in to the fixture would have resorted to those tactics.

United were second in the league and scoring goals for fun. There was an air of optimism in Old Trafford that haven’t been seen in ages. Fans were seen smiling again after the seasons of Moyes and Van Gaal. The style of play was also reminiscent of the swashbuckling era of years gone by. The form in the Champions League was also cause for celebration as they were sitting pretty in their group. 

Then they to go to Liverpool in one of the biggest games in the football calendar or even world football and play so negatively that even their hardcore fans know there was a missed opportunity. I mean a point at Liverpool is always a good result, if you are Burnley or even Huddersfield but not when you are second in the league.

Pep would not have parked any kind of bus at Anfield and would have devised tactics to nullify the attacking threat of Liverpool without compromising on some decent football. Jose is a pragmatic manager and will come up with a lot of stories to deflect from his team but no matter what he says it is all PR speak. Manchester United under his stewardship will always play some brilliant football against some of the lesser teams but his inherent fear of them not being good enough against some of the bigger lights will always see them go down the parking the bus route . 

United basically spent nearly 300m to park the bus at Anfield and this is a damning fact. Fans will always say it’s ok we are still second in the league and stuff like that but this performance will still rankle as a defeat against their rivals Liverpool. 

Jose is a master illusionist and that was evident this week when he said he won’t finish his career at Old Trafford , envious of the project at PSG , complained he needed more money and spoke about how other managers are complaining about injuries!

The last statement being the one that took the cake I must say. Jose never complains about anything you see. This was all a PR ploy of course to divert attention from his team and their dire performance at Anfield where the outstretched leg of David De Gea being the only thing that kept them from coming back from there with anything . 

With the squad at his disposal Jose should be aiming a bit higher on and off the pitch but this will all be forgotten when the next 4-0 comes along or when they do win the league. – October 21, 2017.

* Gogulan Dorairajoo is manager of KL Galaxy FC and an all-round football pundit with a passion for the world’s greatest sport. He also happens to be a long suffering fan of Aston Villa FC.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.