I can’t decide if I’m surprised by the timing of this Mourinho nonsense. It happens wherever Mourinho is so it was always coming but why now? Given how poor Utd were last season, they’re doing far better now - 2nd in the league, top of their cl group and through to the quarters of the league cup.
I guess it comes down to a few of factors. First off, nobody wants Mourinho as their manager - he’s always a compromise because the manager you want you can’t get and you tolerate all the baggage because he gets results so when things aren’t perfect it’s far easier to criticise him than another manager. You then have the Guardiola factor - Utd and City finished on level points the season before both took over, both have spent fortunes and while Utd are doing well, they’re not doing as well as City and more importantly City are doing it while playing far better football too. You obviously have the personal rivalry between the two which is bad enough for Mourinho but Guardiola is also *****ing on Mourinho’s justification for the way he plays - Guardiola is proving that you don’t need to choose between results and attacking football.
All of the above has come to a head because Mourinho can’t take criticism. He’s perfect and it’s always the ref, fans, media, the board or his players fault and when he starts getting criticised he’ll turn on them.
All of what’s going on is designed to let everybody know that it’s not his fault Utd aren’t top and an attempt to improve his bargaining position at Utd, while keeping the PSG door open if and when things go pear shaped. How things end up will be determined by how willing the Glazers are to tolerate him because no matter how many articles Castles puts out blaming Woodward, I can’t see the Glazers siding with Mourinho over him.
