With their heads down and their hoods up, Manchester United's players left Old Trafford on Wednesday night after a disappointing 0-0 draw against Hull City. They normally oblige when it comes to signing autographs to the hundreds of fans who wait for them after matches, but they weren't in the mood as they left the changing-room area at the Stretford End and walked back to their cars.

A draw against bottom-of-the-table Hull was poor -- not that the visiting players saw it that way as they boarded their team coach. One, Irishman David Meyler, was shouted over by the many Irish United fans. He gladly signed autographs. The Republic of Ireland international was handed a United shirt to sign. He smiled, put in in his pocket, then took it onto the team bus, where he held it up laughing. The fans laughed, too. For not the first time that night, Hull City had United in their back pocket.

The fans who stayed behind were a tiny minority. Old Trafford's giant, packed stands had started to empty long before the 96th minute, when referee Michael Jones blew his whistle to signal the end of the goalless draw.

In the away corner, the travelling fans, the smallest visiting contingent of the season, enquired whether there was a fire drill taking place as the home fans streamed out into a mild Mancunian night. They sang their version of "Glad All Over" in honour of their impressive new boss, Marco Silva, and with reason: the Portuguese had just stopped a run of nine consecutive away defeats with a draw at England's most successful club.

To the Hull manager's right, his compatriot Jose Mourinho stood vexed in his big coat. His United team, so convincing around the turn of the year, have drawn three consecutive league matches. United have now drawn more home league games than they've won.

Mourinho's charges are 14 times unbeaten in the league, but the momentum that had built as the team went into 2017 has diminished once again. It's been that kind of season -- a surge, then a stall.

Tuesday's Premier League results had been favourable to United, a team who don't meet another opponent in the top half until a home match against West Brom on April 1. After that, when the games will really matter, away matches at Arsenal and Spurs await.

The current run of fixtures is favourable, yet United again failed to capitalise when they really should have done better. Hull are at the bottom of the league, yet have won one, drawn one and lost one in their three meetings against United in the league and cup in recent weeks.

The team that have to sell their best players have frustrated a team that have been struggling to get the best from their own stars. United's game-changers -- big-name summer signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan -- were mediocre. Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata were introduced but couldn't break the impasse. It's the same old against the Premier League's new boys. Despite 85 shots at home to the three promoted sides this season, United have scored only two goals against Burnley, Middlesbrough and Hull.

United's draws, against Stoke, Burnley, Arsenal, West Ham, Liverpool and Hull, are the primary reason for Mourinho's failure to make the top four. United have picked up 21 points from 12 home games. Burnley, in 10th, have 28 points from 13 at home.

The Reds have sat in sixth for three months because they're the sixth-best team in England this season. United dominated those drawn matches, where visiting goalkeepers performed heroics, but while every team has bad games, Wednesday was one too many for United. After the game, Mourinho went on the front foot to criticise referees while being careful not to criticise referees.

A diversionary tactic, maybe, and a rant most definitely not, but he's long known this side isn't good enough to win the league, and he'll fight as many battles as necessary to get things how he wants them at Old Trafford. He's as combative as Sir Alex Ferguson -- a day without an argument is an anomaly for Mourinho -- but he's made improvements on last season, and he'll do it again in the transfer window in the summer.

More players will leave, hopefully with the high sale prices that he attracted for Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay, as he gets the team as he wants it. More players want to leave -- for more minutes and more money -- but that's normal at every football club.

United will again be in a strong position to buy top players in the summer, stronger still if they're in the Champions League. The club were watching Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann long before Mourinho took charge, scouting and sourcing opinions on the Frenchman. Maybe he could be part of a bigger master plan, but whatever is happening at Old Trafford, it'll take time.

The supremely gifted Pogba is still settling and has had more haircuts than good games recently. Ibrahimovic has had a fine first season in England, but the team are over-reliant on his goals. United's other top scorers, Mata and Pogba, both have less than half his total of 19. Ibrahimovic and Pogba had chances against Hull, but United's lack of cutting edge in front of goal was again evident.

Last season's top scorer Anthony Martial, who was impressive in the second half if not the first in Sunday's 4-0 win against Wigan in the FA Cup, didn't start, but the fans were singing for him at both ends of the ground in the first half. He has had issues with Mourinho and didn't come on from a bench packed with an excess of attacking talent including Rooney, Mata, Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard.

United fans have started singing "I'm Into Something Good," a song made famous by the Manchester band Herman's Hermits in 1964, the year after Mourinho was born.

They've twisted the lyrics so that it's a nod of appreciation to him, with the words "Jose's got United playing the way that they should."

Well, yes and no. But good things come to those who wait, and there are no quick fixes at Manchester United.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by ANDY MITTEN

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