The Jose Mourinho Appreciation Thread

[Robbo]

Moved the discussion from the pre-season thread just to keep things clean. Utd fans can use this thread to vent their frustrations at having Mourinho as their manager and opposition fans can use it to laugh. Once the season kicks off, please remember not to post spoilers in here - BaZ

Mourinho calling most of the squad cowards, not happy.

Martial/Valencia etc being thrown under the bus for being on holiday too long and being lazy.

 

[Robbo]

As I said above, I can't see him lasting long, he's fallen out with Woodward too by the sound of it.

In honesty it's hard to have much sympathy, it's not like we've tightened the purse strings and refused to sign the players he wanted, given the spending, he's getting very little out of the squad. Over the past year or so the football has been dire to watch, even if it proved somewhat effective at times.

It's got to the point where I expect our games to be boring and they usually are, it's quite sad. Even if we win, it's nothing to get excited about.

 

[Robbo]

Can't really disagree with any of the above posts. I wanted Mourinho as our manager and thought he might change but it's just more of the same, but without winning anything significant.

It's not so much about the friendly result, they aren't really that important, but everything else. He just seems ridiculously miserable and has spent most of the pre-season insulting our players for no real reason.

Every single match feels like a chore, at some points I've stopped caring whether we win or not, and just want to see some good football; no chance of that though. It is entertainment after all, right?

Considering Moyes only signed one player (initially) and spent comparatively little, you'd have to say Mourinho is making a much bigger mess of things. That's something I never expected to say.

Barring a dramatic turnaround in all departments, I think it's time for him to go.

 

[Robbo]

I hope it's all an act and he's trying to force the board to spend, but I doubt it, sadly.

 

[Robbo]

It feels like the latter stages of the Moyes and LvG eras, just a matter of time now. Woodward has lost confidence in Mourinho, and the players don't want to play for him.

As for the fans, they're dreading every game.

 

[Robbo]

I don't think anything will change, the players aren't playing for the manager. So, while I'd give it a few more games, we might as well get rid of him sooner rather than later.

As for a replacement, it depends who is available, and we need a Director of Football in place who would be happy to work with the incoming manager too.

I like Poch, but he wouldn't be available until the end of the season. Zidane would be interesting but more of a risk than Poch. I like Simeone but I'm not sure he's a great fit.

Of the available managers, Zidane seems somewhat logical, as long as an experienced structure is in place above him (Director of Football etc).

 

[Robbo]

Raiola wading in hasn't helped matters. I know he's attacking Scholes but it just adds to the farce.

Utd need to get their house in order and decide on an overall strategy and only then start searching for the right manager because the issues they're facing now is because Mourinho was a compromise between what they wanted and how they wanted to get there.

This is absolutely true, the Mourinho successor and Director of Football appointments need to be carefully thought about.

 

[Robbo]

I think Zidane is being sold a little short (by myself too).

Yes he had an excellent squad, but retaining the Champion's League is very difficult, even the best squads have failed to do it, including Pep's Barca at their best.

His methods are still a bit unknown, but he's certainly proven himself in many ways already.

 

[Robbo]

The club structure has to be sorted out, I agree, and I'm no fan of the Glazers or even Woodward (though he is good at his primary job).

However, the reality is that Mourinho has failed, you can't say the board haven't backed him properly at least until this summer window. His signings have been failures in general.

 

[Robbo]

It's a bit weird right now, Mourinho seems to be going to ever greater lengths to engage with the fans.

Woodward won't be going anywhere, he's effectively a Glazer and they love him, so Jose will lose out in any power struggle.

I'd like him to turn it around but I only see it ending one way at the moment. I don't think he's quite lost the players yet, at least not all of them.

 

[Robbo]

He's not trying to engage with the fans. It's becoming a political battle and he's trying to manipulate the fans to side with him. All this nonsense post Spurs was calculated - every interview and press-conference was the same stuff about the fans are smart, they don't read newspapers or watch TV. It was the same with his actions after the Burnley game - it's all for effect to make out the supporters are with him

He snapped in the Spurs press-conference and you saw the real him when he was giving a speach about how great the fans were for standing by him/the team and one of the journos was brave enough to point out that lots of them left early. He reverted to type and had to tell everybody how special he was - a stark contrast to the selfless guy he claimed he was in the pre-match press-conference.

You're right though, he ultimately he can't win a battle with Woodward which is why he's not gone full out with his comments - he's made his frustrations clear and firmly pointed the finger at others but at the same time praised or complimented Woodward too. He's trying to get the fans onside to give him more leeway with results/performances and put more pressure on the board to give in to some of his demands.

Oh I'm well aware of that. Ultimately performances on the pitch and results are what will influence the fans, I think the majority would like Jose to turn it around, but that's not particularly likely so at the moment the club is stuck.

As for the spending, I do understand Woodward's reluctance. Mourinho brought in two centre backs for £30m each, Bailly has the potential to be good if he can stay injury free, but Lindelof looks very dodgy. That being said, Alderweireld for £50m~ would have been a good bit of business considering Mourinho is the manager after all... he's never going to throw in a couple of 21 year olds.

 

[Robbo]

Yep, was quite surprised to see that footage. There’s no way it’s being misinterpreted. Major fall out.

 

[Robbo]

It’s not just Pogba, reports are that most of the players are unhappy with Mourinho. I think Pogba has been well out of order and his ego is causing problems, especially as his performances are often average.

There’s only one way this ends, for most managers, let alone Mourinho...

 

[Robbo]

If we continue like this he'll be gone fairly soon. It would be insanity to let this continue, we're down in 10th place and getting worse.

So many things have been done wrong, the blame lies with the board too. A total lack of planning and football knowledge has led to this.

Mourinho though has to shoulder a lot of the blame. Since day one he's looked incredibly miserable and like he doesn't really want the job, and as time passes, he only gets worse. Tactically and motivationally he has looked clueless and at times it's been embarrassing.

He's had money to spend, and lots of it. Look at what Klopp has done in a similar time frame. Or Pep. Or now Sarri. He could be doing much better and there are no real excuses you can make for him. Sure, Woodward should have backed him again this summer, but his signings have been total failures so far.

Something needs to be done, soon. All previous plans need to be torn up, and we should be thankful the club is so huge, rich and established that we can ride out these terrible seasons.

What an absolutely dull affair.

 

[Robbo]

Do you guys not remember when we had these discussions about LvG? Lots of thing were said like:

"He can't stay after this"
"Rumour is he will be sacked if we lose on X"
"He'll be gone by the end of the week"

None of this was true. Unless things turn seriously nasty he will be here until near the end of the season. I reckon things will turn nasty if we crash out of the CL at the group stages and sit mid-table after a few more games however.

I think this is even worse, we are in freefall at the moment. The odd win against poor sides doesn't change that. I'd hope the board have learned from the Moyes and LvG failures too.

There's more to it as well beyond the media stuff, Mourinho has looked utterly miserable since day one. He's been deliberately difficult in many ways and to me it looks like he regrets taking the job. We shouldn't indulge him any longer. I wanted him as the manager and hoped we'd see some of the old Mourinho, but he's clearly changing for the worse as time goes by.

-

Ducker is reasonably well sourced and published the following this morning:

Zinedine Zidane in pole position to take over from Jose Mourinho with Man Utd staff convinced manager will go

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...e-manchester-united-may-gary-neville-blaming/

 

[Robbo]

Forget the board for a minute, Mourinho has failed at things only he is responsible for. Squad management, tactics, transfers (his chosen signings haven't been good), and things off the pitch have just been embarrassing.

His general attitude has been awful from the start.

 

[Robbo]

Interesting. The right decision but the next step has to be considered very carefully (at every level of the club).

 

[Robbo]

The club are denying it but this is only going to end one way. Makes sense to do it before an international break.

Guess we’ll find out soon.

 

[Robbo]

McDonnell has come out again and said he stands by his story and his source, he seems pretty confident.

The press are just reporting what the club have briefed them, McDonnell seems to have another source.

I'd say Mourinho is on the brink one way or another, the run of fixtures after the international break is incredibly difficult to say the least.

The whole thing is a mess but almost all of the players have given up on the manager. That only ever has one outcome, bar a miracle.

 

[Robbo]

Never mind Klopp and Pep, look at Sarri, Emery and Poch. Is anyone going to seriously suggest Mourinho has had less backing than them? Sarri and Emery (admittedly it's early days) are showing how things should be done. As time passes with Mourinho, things get worse.

No matter how you look at it, and no matter how bad the board are, Mourinho has been given enough of a chance and has messed everything up. Gary Neville always defends managers so while I like him as a pundit, his views on managers aren't very realistic. We could be bottom of the table and he wouldn't call for the managers head. That's not to say things don't need fixing at the board level too - they do.

If the board don't get rid of Jose now during this international break, they must have decided to give him a stay of execution in the hope the second half against Newcastle has united the team. Look at our next fixtures:

20th Oct Chelsea (Away)
Juventus (Home)
Everton (Home)
Bournemouth (Away)
Juventus (Away)
11th Nov Man City (Away)

I don't fancy us to win any of these games, we could be in an even bigger mess by the end of it. The one positive I suppose is that this would be a tough set of games for a new manager.

Now there are reports De Gea won't sign a new deal, and who can blame him. He should be playing at the very highest level, not struggling in every game.

While I think Zidane is very risky, there is a hope with the right support he could unite the dressing room, certainly our under-performing potentially world class players like Pogba and Martial.