Savage questions Lukaku and Mourinho’s ‘pantomime act’

Joe Williams

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku needs to find a way to “deliver in the big games”, according to Robbie Savage.

The Red Devils are now 11 points behind neighbours Manchester City after they lost 2-1 last weekend in the Manchester derby.

And Savage has questioned Jose Mourinho’s side following the loss and wonders where the creativity is.

“I look at the spine of Mourinho’s team last Sunday: Where was the creativity?” Savage wrote in his column for the Daily Mirror.

“Paul Pogba’s suspension was clearly a massive blow, but Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling don’t bring it out from the back like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera were outgunned in midfield and Romelu Lukaku, not for the first time, was ineffective against the big guns.

“Lukaku will prove worth his weight in goals, but if he is going to silence the doubters he can’t just score against the likes of Bournemouth and Swansea but come up short when City or Chelsea are in town.

“I wouldn’t call him a flat-track bully, but the best players find a way to deliver in the big games.

“The title race is over. I called it last month, and nobody is going to catch City.

“But as good as Pep Guardiola’s side were at Old Trafford, and 49 points from a possible 51 is absolutely phenomenal, I have to ask the question.

“Would the outcome have been any different if Mourinho had not been so cautious, and the shackles were off?”

And Savage thinks Mourinho should have gone for it over the weekend and taken the game to Pep Guardiola’s side.

“Jose Mourinho’s pantomime act is wearing thin at Manchester United,” said Savage.

“I take no pleasure in saying it, because I have been one of his biggest fans and I tipped United for the title before a ball was kicked in August.

“But in the derby defeat by Manchester City at Old Trafford, it looked like there was one team trying to win it and the other trying not to lose it.

“And for arguably the biggest club in the world – a club whose whole ethos is based on the attacking flair and style of Busby and Ferguson – 35 per cent possession at home is not going to keep the supporters happy.

“When I saw the teamsheet, and Mourinho had picked four forwards, I thought he was going to go for it.”