What Mourinho Leaving Could Mean for FPL Assets

It seems that the 3-1 loss to Liverpool and the manner in which it transpired was the final straw and José Mourinho is being forced to leave Manchester United, effective immediately. While the search for a permanent replacement begins, an interim manager will be appointed to hold the reins for the rest of the season.

What does that mean for Manchester United assets in FPL then?

Well, it’s a bit difficult to predict properly right now, given we don’t know how they will line up under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. One could argue that we hardly knew who would play towards the end with Mourinho as well so in that way, nothing has changed.

Do I Not Like Orange had a hot topic on Mourinho getting the chop as the news broke and I’ll try to build on that, as well as take a brief look at some of the potential recruits for your FPL-squad.

Defence

It’s worth noting that Manchester United have only kept two clean sheets in the league all season… I had to double check to make sure I was reading it properly but it actually is just that dire, the Mourinho “masterclass of defensive solidity” does not appear to have materialised at all this season.

I’d expect David De Gea (£5.7) to keep his place between the sticks, anything else would frankly be quite shocking. He sits joint third for saves (62) which probably tells as much about his quality as it points towards the fact that United have been conceding way too many shots for being labelled a “top side”. The next premium goalkeeper on the list for saves is placed all the way down at number 13, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris (£5.4) with 40 saves, the rest are the Joe Hart’s (£4.5) of this world who have been regularly called into action. He is still somewhat pricey but if the new manager can steady the ship, given the fixtures, he could come good. I’d probably wait a week or two for the defenders to see who is preferred and how they seem to be working together, but De Gea could be one to get on early in that price bracket of goalkeepers (although Liverpool keeper Alisson at £5.8 would be giving you very stern looks).

Midfield

The (currently fit) four main FPL options in the United midfield are Anthony Martial (£7.3), Jesse Lingard (£6.7), Paul Pogba (£7.8) and Juan Mata (£6.2). Martial is Manchester United’s top goalscorer so far this season with his seven goals in the league, most of them coming in a great spell of form between GW8-GW12 where he got six goals and assisted one, before coming into a period of rotation and injury issues. If he can keep up that ridiculous conversion-rate he had in that period of 46.2% (admittedly highly unlikely) or get more shots off (slightly more likely), he looks an intriguing option at that price.

Jesse Lingard had a pretty good season overall last year (eight goals, six assists), even though his form dropped off considerably in the second half where he only scored one goal, two assists between GW23-GW38. This season he has been rotated heavily and only made the full 90 minutes once, scoring two goals and netting zero assists. Given how close he is to Anthony Martial in price it might be worth going with the Frenchman instead for now, who seemed to be hitting his stride right before the injury woes. If Lingard can nail down a place though, he could still be interesting.

Paul Pogba will most likely see more minutes than he recently has under new management, but what role he is deployed in will be the key to his potential for FPL points. Pogba possibly still being on spot-kick duties is a nice plus and he could be out to prove that it was Mourinho who shackled him firmly in the barn this season, rather than letting him and the other horses run free.

Juan Mata seems a long way off his stellar 2012/2013 season where he scored 11 goals, 18 assists and was named Chelsea’s player of the year (gathering a very solid 212 FPL-points in the process). His numbers have since dwindled when it comes to goals, assists as well as minutes on the pitch, which can also be seen in the underlying stats when comparing the average between his 18/19 season and the 12/13 season. Mata is without a doubt in the “if he can nail down a permanent place in the starting eleven he could be decent, but the smart thing to do is probably just to stay away right now”-category, if ever there was one.

Alexis Sánchez (£10.0) is out with a hamstring for the rest of the year so he will remain firmly rooted to my very long and slightly too inclusive watchlist.

Attack

Romelu Lukaku (£10.7) and Marcus Rashford (£6.9) are two very different propositions; one is a premium striker who has been struggling to justify his lofty price tag this season, the other a more budget-friendly forward who had started to turn some heads with his one goal and four assists in the last four gameweeks. Depending on how the new manager will line up, Rashford does look like he could be decent between now-GW29 if he gets proper playing time and is able to hang on to some of the current form. He will have to prove that he is as good of an option as current budget favourites Callum Wilson (£6.9) and Raúl Jiménez (£6.2) though, unless you are going with a premium-less strikeforce.

Lukaku is facing competition in that price bracket from heavyweights like Harry Kane (£12.6), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.5) and the fit-again Sergio Agüero (£11.2). Those are not your everyday run of the mill strikers and he will have to have a serious rejuvenation to really be considered in the same category as them.

Closing thoughts

It will be very interesting to see how Ole Gunnar Solskjær does and how the players will deal with Mourinho being sacked: will there be a bounce-back and an upturn in form or are the players just not good enough this season?

Will you be taking the “wait and see” approach or are you jumping aboard the rocking ship, hoping that a new manager can steer it away from the sharp cliffs and into safe, point-filled waters?

Who will you be looking at, and who is on your watchlist?

Meltens