Wilting under pressure is not a good look. Justifiably the character of our players will be called into the question after this latest setback.
There were a lot of similarities between the defeat on Saturday and our exit from the Champions League against Juventus, and it’s the way we have allowed winning positions slip from our grasp.
From a position of seemingly being in control, lapses of concentration at the back have turned games on their head. We could have been out of sight against Juve, but the quickfire double from Higuain and Dybala saw us lose our composure at the vital moment.
Things were slightly different against United. Allowing Sanchez to score with a header was another aberration in the heart of our defence, but we kept going in the first half, and we created enough chances to convince me that we could go again in the second period.
Yet, fear seemed to grip the team. Neither side wanted to take many risks, and when we conceded the second, there seemed to be little that could be done to break out of the malaise that had set in following the interval.
Passing sideways, making few inroads into the United defence, the similarities with the last 25 mins against Juve were there for all to see.
Under pressure, decision making is at its hardest. With the game slipping away from you, it can be easy to force things and not stick to the systems and plans so deliberately set out before the game.
When things start to go wrong, those with the coolest heads are the ones the team need to turn to, and yet even the likes of Christian Eriksen were beginning to make questionable decisions in that second half.
Of course, you are coming up against a well-drilled Mourinho side that can cope with waves of attacks to defend leads, but we failed to create chances when in the first half they were coming far more easily.
And that for me is down to the mental side of the game. You have to keep your composure when the tide turns against you. If this team cannot strengthen their attitude in such critical periods of the match, then they are destined to be nearly men forever.