One of the hallmarks of the best José Mourinho teams was that capacity to engineer specialist victories seized from the most demanding venues. Think back to his emergence on the international scene in 2003-04 with Porto. His unfashionable team delivered a cool 1-1 draw at Real Madrid and then came that touchline sprint at Old Trafford after a last-minute equaliser en route to lifting the Champions League trophy.

In his first spell at Chelsea he set up his side for wins at Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United to power the cruise to the title. On to Internazionale’s treble and a 2-0 masterclass to beat Bayern Munich in the 2010 Champions League final. Then, with Real Madrid, a crucial clásico win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou that all but sealed La Liga. The examples are manifold. It is not difficult to close the eyes and half-imagine a stereotype away-day masterclass scripted by Mourinho in his pomp.

On his return to English football with Chelsea, the 2-0 win in April 2014 at Liverpool – where Steve Gerrard’s slip had allowed the visitors to open the scoring – served as a perfect reminder of the classic Mourinho blueprint. It illustrated how to frustrate opponents who love to express themselves, get an unyielding foothold in a match, wait for the moment to pounce and break some hearts while his team’s beat makes the decisive noise.

For modern managers who have created a methodology that has delivered success the temptation is to stick with it. United’s performance at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a 1-0 defeat was not altogether surprising. Mourinho was never likely to send his team out to go for the jugular. Even though United are second in the table, even though Chelsea appeared to be in a vulnerable position on the back of shaky results and reports of friction, Mourinho reverted to type for an important challenge and sought to keep the game tight as his platform. It did not come off.

In Mourinho’s last 10 matches against top six Premier League opponents away from home, which dates back to April 2015 when he was the manager of Chelsea, his teams have scored only once. That is one goal in 900 minutes (plus a bunch of stoppage time) of football. This kind of statistic, given that he is employed by clubs clearly aiming to win the Premier League, has to be alarming. Yes, there are a respectable mix of 0-0 thou-shalt-not-be-beaten-or-else draws in there but the knack for pivotal performances in these fixtures is off kilter. United are high in the table, best placed to challenge the league leaders Manchester City, but Mourinho could not help but go into the Chelsea game prepared to box cautiously. His brain has always worked that way.

If one spools back to the day he was appointed United manager, the killer question was always going to boil down to how successful the mix of philosophies would turn out. In an ideal world one would take the best of Mourinho’s strategic work and ruthless drive, and the core of the attacking spirit that is woven into the fabric of United as a club, and create the right balance for a winning formula. But at times there seems some kind of disconnect. It was evident in that dreary draw at Anfield and to an extent in United’s more rigid display at Chelsea. Not many teams win the league without pulling the odd rabbit out of a hat in tough away games and United’s reticence to be too ambitious does not look like helping them bridge the gap City have opened up.

Despite being well manned in midfield they conceded the central battleground. Despite selecting two attackers they were too often isolated. No midfielders seemed willing to gamble with a forward run past them and the creative instincts did not fire. United seemed more uptight as a team than they were at the start of the season when the goals flowed and opposition were steamrollered with a sense of fun prevailing on the pitch.

The lack of a midfielder of Paul Pogba’s quality, character and presence is impacting on the way they tackle these games. His return from injury cannot come soon enough. Even so, the dependence on still playing the Marouane Fellaini card to rescue a difficult hand tells of a broader story. United have spent £322m on transfer fees since Mourinho arrived and perhaps should have a more progressive game plan in those crucial games that can tilt a season’s storyline.

United have lost only twice this season and in a normal campaign with their points haul they would not be so far off the blistering pace being set across town by City. It is well within their powers to go on a winning run between now and the intriguing derby set for next month. But until Mourinho can rediscover the clinical edge he used to instil in his teams for big away matches, it is hard to see how he can pick a more equal fight with Pep Guardiola. That solitary goal in 10 meaty away tests is a problem that needs to be solved.