Disclaimer: I am a Man U supporter of 30 years
Poor old Jose is taking a fair amount of stick recently particularly around his individual style of management. It strikes me that much of this comment from various sections of the media is just what you get when you employ someone like Jose and you are in one the most high profile roles in club management but some of the opinion from ex-pro pundits seems very superficial in its assessment.
There are a few things I don't like about Jose. At times I think he shows a lack of class. Someone as successful as he has been should in my opinion have the ability to rise above petty criticisms vs responding in the somewhat self obsessed and sullen approach we see.
However, it cannot be denied that he is one of the best coaches of his generation, having enjoyed success at every club he has managed. I also massively respect that he has done this in four different European leagues. The guy clearly knows how to win football matches and enough of them to ensure the respective clubs trophy cabinets never need to make their resident "silverware polisher" adhere to a zero hours contract.
What prompted me to start this thread was the recent outcry over the public criticism of several of the playing staff at Man United. On the surface of it this seems an unusual tactic in the sense that modern convention is that this is not the done thing. "praise in public, criticise in private" etc. For me Jose as the manager has the right to handle these matters as best he sees fit. His track record should afford him the respect to coach how he feels is appropriate - after all he will be judged on results. One thing that he does have extensive experience of is working with World level players. He will know what it takes to get tot he elite level and I suspect that stepping into Manchester united after the (latter SAF), Moyes and LvG era shocked him.
Shocked in the sense that the team had fallen so far from the side that repeatedly won domestic titles and reached the end stages of the Champions League. The team has weakened more significantly than any of their European peers since 2012. He inherited a squad where the highest paid player and captain was in such physical decline that surely it was only media pressure or a contract clause that allowed him to keep his place in the team. Add to that many highly paid newer recruits who had achieved nothing and showed little under Moyes or LvG to suggest they were worthy of the shirt. there was and perhaps still is a malaise at this once great club which needs to be broken.
Great leaders take on those sort of issues vs hoping they will go away. If Jose feels that he needs to publicly shame players who aren't in his opinion showing the application and desire he knows is required to be a great player or a key player in a great team then I get that. There was a thread in GD about the "********* generation" - I can only imagine that this is almost exponentially exaggerated in elite level premier league footballers. Maybe some tough love is exactly what is required. Compare and contrast Christian Ronaldo with say Meshut Ozil. Arguably equally talented but with huge chasm in desire, committment and consistency of performance. it is any wonder that Jose bawled Ozil out when he saw this first hand. Mourinho clearly needs players to show the hunger and desire that he has to win. I am not a John Terry fan but I can exactly see why he was such a key player for Chelsea under Mourinho.
For me I can only surmise that Mourinho doesn't see enough of that characteristic from enough players int he current United squad. He sees potential but his standards are high. He is driven to win (at times lacking humility) but in this business who is valuing humility. Personally I am relaxed about him testing some of the current squad. It's obvious who is responding well to the step up in requirement - Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Herrera, Mata, Rashford - all showing professionalism, desire and an element of leadership. Whilst a few others are merely seeing out time.
It will be interesting to see how many are still there next season because I suspect that JM is not going anywhere soon despite calls for the end to the player brutality!
Poor old Jose is taking a fair amount of stick recently particularly around his individual style of management. It strikes me that much of this comment from various sections of the media is just what you get when you employ someone like Jose and you are in one the most high profile roles in club management but some of the opinion from ex-pro pundits seems very superficial in its assessment.
There are a few things I don't like about Jose. At times I think he shows a lack of class. Someone as successful as he has been should in my opinion have the ability to rise above petty criticisms vs responding in the somewhat self obsessed and sullen approach we see.
However, it cannot be denied that he is one of the best coaches of his generation, having enjoyed success at every club he has managed. I also massively respect that he has done this in four different European leagues. The guy clearly knows how to win football matches and enough of them to ensure the respective clubs trophy cabinets never need to make their resident "silverware polisher" adhere to a zero hours contract.
What prompted me to start this thread was the recent outcry over the public criticism of several of the playing staff at Man United. On the surface of it this seems an unusual tactic in the sense that modern convention is that this is not the done thing. "praise in public, criticise in private" etc. For me Jose as the manager has the right to handle these matters as best he sees fit. His track record should afford him the respect to coach how he feels is appropriate - after all he will be judged on results. One thing that he does have extensive experience of is working with World level players. He will know what it takes to get tot he elite level and I suspect that stepping into Manchester united after the (latter SAF), Moyes and LvG era shocked him.
Shocked in the sense that the team had fallen so far from the side that repeatedly won domestic titles and reached the end stages of the Champions League. The team has weakened more significantly than any of their European peers since 2012. He inherited a squad where the highest paid player and captain was in such physical decline that surely it was only media pressure or a contract clause that allowed him to keep his place in the team. Add to that many highly paid newer recruits who had achieved nothing and showed little under Moyes or LvG to suggest they were worthy of the shirt. there was and perhaps still is a malaise at this once great club which needs to be broken.
Great leaders take on those sort of issues vs hoping they will go away. If Jose feels that he needs to publicly shame players who aren't in his opinion showing the application and desire he knows is required to be a great player or a key player in a great team then I get that. There was a thread in GD about the "********* generation" - I can only imagine that this is almost exponentially exaggerated in elite level premier league footballers. Maybe some tough love is exactly what is required. Compare and contrast Christian Ronaldo with say Meshut Ozil. Arguably equally talented but with huge chasm in desire, committment and consistency of performance. it is any wonder that Jose bawled Ozil out when he saw this first hand. Mourinho clearly needs players to show the hunger and desire that he has to win. I am not a John Terry fan but I can exactly see why he was such a key player for Chelsea under Mourinho.
For me I can only surmise that Mourinho doesn't see enough of that characteristic from enough players int he current United squad. He sees potential but his standards are high. He is driven to win (at times lacking humility) but in this business who is valuing humility. Personally I am relaxed about him testing some of the current squad. It's obvious who is responding well to the step up in requirement - Valencia, Bailly, Rojo, Herrera, Mata, Rashford - all showing professionalism, desire and an element of leadership. Whilst a few others are merely seeing out time.
It will be interesting to see how many are still there next season because I suspect that JM is not going anywhere soon despite calls for the end to the player brutality!