Well, for starters Mourinho should have played Martial in place of Lingard. Would have offered so much more from the left. Decisions like this really makes me want to be manager at Old Trafford but here I am typing up another edition of I’m the Boss.
De Gea starts in goal no doubt about that one. The Spaniard was excellent in midweek and was not at fault for either goal. And there is no way I’m benching the Premier League’s best shot-stopper.
Lindelof put in yet another nervy performance but despite this, I’m going to go with the lesser of two possibly three evils and chose the Swede to partner Eric Bailly in the heart of my back line. Maybe the physical presence of Bailly and the opportunity to take the back seat, for now, will help Lindelof. Valencia, arguably the best right back last season starts at the position.
Darmian was a liability at left-back and Blind doesn’t fit the bill of my type of left-back – pacey, makes overlapping runs and physical. I would love it if Danny Rose joins but right now am going to rotate until at least Shaw returns. After his outing in Macedonia, Blind slots into the left-back position and Darmian drops out.
I am sticking to the midfield trio chosen by Jose in midweek. I underestimated the fitness of Matic but what a signing he is going to be. He will anchor the midfield while Pogba and Herrera will start alongside him on his left and right respectively. Herrera will again be given more or less a free role with the license to follow the ball when out of possession and be the pain in the back that he is to opposition players.
It was a disappointing display from Pogba against Madrid. My advice to him would be to keep it simple. He tried to do too much on his own in midweek and often took one touch too many.
Lukaku starts up front and will be the main man up top. His record against West Ham is enviable and a goal scoring start is vital for us to get off the mark quickly. Henrikh Mkhitaryan keeps his place in the side. He had a good game but sometimes lacked the final ball required. The assignment of the West Ham defence is much easier than that of the Madrid defence. Again, I would not mind if the Armenian drifts in and causes confusion in the opposition back line.
On the left-hand side of our front three is where the real decision has to be made. Rashford was lively when he came on against Madrid and caused problems for Carvajal at right back. Martial was benched last time and he will take his place there once again on Sunday.
My substitutes bench will look something like this: Romero, Smalling, Darmian, Martial, Carrick, Lingard and Mata.
Mata and Martial will be players I would look to inspire United should we find ourselves in an uncomfortable position in the second half of the game.
Well, folks, that’s how I would line up against West Ham on Sunday. Jose might have other plans but I’m confident of three points should he go for the team I’ve chosen.