Posts tagged jose mourinho

A sinking ship that needs a saviour.

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Way off pace United has come to a point where it needs a savior, again.

Unfortunately, Ole Gunnar’s reign needs to be cut short, the journey that started on the basis of emotional decision has crumbled.

It was 8th May 2013 when we got the news we had all been dreading to hear. The man who has been with the club for 27 years would retire leaving us with the most decorated Premier League club.

We were so used to the glory we forgot we had a mastermind who has won Premier League with Ashley Young, Tom Cleverly, Danny Welbeck. Yup, He made average players play well and won the league.

Let's dive into our past and our cluelessness regarding the future.

David Moyes

Some of us knew Moyes was a piece of bad news since the day we heard the rumor cause even though he had a competitive spell at Everton he had not won anything with them and here he was taking on the biggest challenge with the biggest PL team.

SAF had left a legacy behind which Moyes failed to continue miserably. United won 27 games in 51 games under him but unfortunately, he was shown the exit door after just a single season, he left United trailing at seventh position.

And here we were looking for another man the very next season.

Luis Van Gaal

When LVG came on we were quite hopeful- his successful time in Bundesliga was quite tempting.
He had the ability to set up foundations and had an eye for young talent. But he was no tactician who could drag United back to where SAF had left us, favorites for every trophy and champions.

His time at United was a total blunder, after 10 league matches United was in ninth place with 13 points and three victories, their worst start to the season since 1987-87.

We were mocked and laughed at and his stunts on the pitch did not help either. Some say he should have given more time and this is something which I believe in as well but passion and aggression to do everything and get the club back on the top is not something that everyone has.

The Jose Mourinho

Enters Mr. Mourinho, the tactical genius. The man who had an amazing spell at Porto, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. To be honest I had a very negative feeling about him. He was constantly falling out with players and fans at his previous clubs. As much as I respect his work I never had much respect for him as a person.

He did manage to win us some titles and at that moment we were relieved to be back on the winning road but it bought in a lot of negativity and instability along.

He was followed by negativity wherever he went and that’s exactly what happened at United as well. When the club denied his request for new defenders, he felt they failed him and turned against the whole system. His disinterest and hopelessness cost him control of the dressing room.

It was time, to get a new boss again.

Ole Gunnar

Ole Gunnar was not a new name at Old Trafford. People adored him. He was our “super-sub” and when there were talks of him replacing Jose, everybody was delighted.

But I somehow did not feel he was ready for the role, from Molde to United?
It was a huge responsibility. No doubt he did amazing there but managing United is one of the toughest jobs in World Football

All the doubts and barriers were broken down when he managed to win 14 of his 19 matches in charge, we finally had the guy we have been looking for.

The board was supportive, we got players that we needed and were finally playing the United way.

Ole had been taking us in the right direction, from boring defensive football to proper attacking football in the earlier stages.

But Mountains were to be climbed.

Last year at this stage of the season, we had 19 points in 10 games, and this season with a much stronger squad we have 17 points in 11 games. I totally understand the frustration of the fans, we should be competing for titles this season but it looks like we have regressed, we have fewer points than what we had last season.

But we all know what happens when the new manager comes in, new mentality, fresh squad, and the same old story of waiting 1-2 seasons to actually get good results.

I am not saying Ole is good or that he should continue, he did what no other previous managers could do. We got our old United back, we also were able to get Ronaldo back which is a very big deal. But this is as much he could do, he doesn’t have vision or style of play or tactical flexibility, which we desperately need.

So all in all I think we need to be very careful before choosing Ole’s successor. The board needs to hunt down a person who actually matches the club’s visions because I know we cannot afford to spend another 2 seasons just “experimenting”. We have a very talented squad, just a few changes in the back and we are ready to compete with the top clubs because trust me facing humiliating results week in and out is getting too much and is not good for the club’s reputation.

Ole was perfect to stabilize the team and clear the deadwood, he has done a pretty decent job of getting us back to UCL qualifications, but if we want to get back on road to success we need a mastermind, a different beast of a manager, who can work his way around and get us results every MUFC fan is dying to see. We might have big names in our squad, but we do not know if they will stick around and wait for another few seasons to lift a trophy.

We have to make some serious changes starting with who will lead the ship, before getting lost in the loop again, Glory Glory Manchester United.

Who do you think should succeed Ole Gunnar?

Cover photo credits: https://wallpapercave.com/manchester-united-players-2020-wallpapers

Paul Scholes believes Jose Mourinho “Engineered” his exit from Manchester United perfectly.

Premier League

Paul Scholes who played 13 seasons for United scoring 91 goals in 383 appearances is convinced that Jose Mourinho planned his sacking perfectly.

Ole Gunner Solskjaer was appointed as interim manager for Manchester United after Jose Mourinho was sacked by the club due to the poor performance of the team and disappointing results. After his sacking, the RedDevils have won six games back to back under the new manager.

Ex-United player Paul Scholes understands that he no longer wanted to be at the club, falling out with the players, speaking negatively about the club management and the players in the press conference was all part of his plan.

Ex-Manchester United player Paul Scholes.

“I felt he didn’t want to be there.

Scholes told TV2. 

“He engineered his move away perfectly in the end. His press conferences were embarrassing, so negative, it was obvious in the end the players didn’t want to play for him. The right thing happened in the end.”

“He fell out with Antonio Valencia who is the nicest man in the world. It’s impossible to fall out with Antonio Valencia,” said Scholes.

Jose Mourinho recently spoke about his time at Manchester United with beIN sports.

“We are not any more in the time where the coach by himself is powerful enough to cope and have a relationship of education and sometimes confrontation with players who are not the best professionals’, Mourinho said, ‘the coaches nowadays they need a structure.’

‘A club must have an owner or a president, a CEO or an executive director, a sports director or a football director, and then the manager. This is a structure that can cope with all the problems that modernity is bringing to all of us.

‘So, for me, a club must be very well organised to cope with this kind of situations, where the manager is only the manager and not the man who is trying to keep the discipline or who are trying to educate the players.’

He added: ‘The phrase I kept with me from Sir Alex Ferguson was, ‘the day a player is more important than the club, goodbye’. Not anymore, not anymore.

‘So I think the way to do it is for the players to find a certain balance and the balance has to be created in the relationship between the players and the manager.

Mourinho’s time at Manchester United: the bright and the dull side.

Premier League

Jose Mourinho got sacked as manager of Manchester United after ugly defeat against the Merseyside on Saturday. The news is this decision was taken by the Glazers and Ed Woodward overnight. Mourinho was even seen in the training, the fans and the media had no clue about this decision till the time it wasn’t officially announced. According to the contract clause, Jose will receive £22.5 m as compensation for getting sacked mid-season.

But let’s not forget he was the best among all the managers United appointed post-Fergie era. He has won 3 trophies including the Europa Cup. Jose has his place among the managerial greats having won Champions League with Porto and Inter Millan, many silverware with Chelsea and Real Madrid but will Mourinho be celebrated as United great?

He managed to win Community Shield, FA Cup and Europa Cup in his first season at United becoming the first United manager to win a major trophy in his debut season. But everything came crashing down since.

Jose’s first silverware as Manchester United manager.

Mourinho celebrating after winning the Europa League.

The Fa Cup celebration in Jose’s first season at United.

So What went wrong? 

Pogba problem: Jose Mourinho had an ugly rift between him and Paul Pogba. It all started in 2016 when Jose benched him for the game against Spurs which ended in 2-0 loss. Pogba was shocked by his decision which resulted in a bad relationship between the manager and the player. But it did not end since Jose Mourinho decided to bench for the next game where Sevilla knocked United out of the Champions League.

Transfer Failure: Jose Mourinho failed to convince the board for the financial backing to sign the players who were suited to his style of play but the debate goes on since none of Jose’s signing proved to be useful and consistent, many players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexis Sanches, Eric Bailly failed to impress the manager ended up benched most of the time.

Accusing his own players: One thing that SAF never used to do is criticise his players publically. Mourinho’s relationship with the players was rough since he rarely backed his players and always blamed them for the bad form and spoke in an unflattering manner about them in front of the media. It was natural for the players to lose their morale and resulted in bad performance on the field.

Playing style: While all the rival teams were going ahead with high intensity and quick attacking football Jose was stuck with the old timer stubborn attitude and defensive style and boring football.  United remained inconsistent with the form while Chelsea, City, Liverpool and even Arsenal defined an entertaining and attacking style of football. Pep Guardiola’s major role in City’s transformation into strong Premier League title contenders and Jurgen Klopp has also been working his magic with Liverpool. It was altogether bad for United to finish outside top four but with Liverpool and City going ahead it was getting more difficult.

We would like to wish all the luck to Jose. He will surely be missed. He was a good manager with bad timing at United.

Ole Gunner has been named caretaker manager for United, he will be joined by Mike Phelan as the first team coach together with Michael Carrick and Kieran Mckenna.

Next up Cardiff City away on Saturday- 11:30 IST.

Jose Mourinho and Manchester United have parted ways.

Premier League

After a humiliating defeat (3-1) against their arch-rivals Liverpool Manchester United have confirmed that Jose has left the club after 3 years.

Heartbreaking news for some but many believe it was best for the club to let Jose go. Will the new manager get the club out of trouble?

With just 7 wins in total this season and just days before January transfer window Jose have decided to leave the club with nothing.

The statement

“Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect.

“The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future.

“A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager”

Jose had signed a two-year contract extension in January has decided to leave United who is 6th on the Premier League Table, 19 points away from Liverpool, with just 7 wins till December. Mourinho becomes the third manager to fail at United. He had a good first season but everything went against him after that. Most of the fans wanted him gone since he wasn’t able to control the club and get back to winning ways.

The club will announce the new caretaker manager on Saturday before the game against Cardiff, meantime Michael Carrick will take the first team training before confirming a permanent manager.

Gary Neville believes Mauricio Pochettuno can be “ideal” candidate to take over from Mourinho.

“I was fortunate enough to spend two or three days at Tottenham’s training ground and for me, he just feels like the most ideal candidate.

Manchester United have tried managers who have won European Cups, managers who have a solid grounding in the Premier League. My view is they need someone who follows the three key principles of that football club which is promoting youth, entertaining football and winning football matches.”

David Moyes

Louis Van Gaal

Jose Mourinho

Who is next? will United find the perfect manager? when will we realize that managers are not the “only” problem? 

Jose was the most successful manager after SAF retired, if he wasn’t able to get things done then I don’t know who can.

We’re not going to be relegated – Mourinho

Premier League

After the Derby win City is 12 points ahead of the Reds who are eighth on the Premier League table and Jose Mourinho has more important things on his mind than to worry about the downfall and rather jokes about not getting relegated.

UNITED have won only 6 out of 12 games they have played and derby was their 4th defeat. United are 12 points away from the top and 12 points away from the bottom to which Jose responded- “I think we’re not going to be relegated,”

He believes that his team did not perform poorly but were rather mentally tired

“One team (City) started the season strong and are still strong, another team (United) didn’t start well and is improving a lot,” he added.

“If you focus on the game, it was open for 80 minutes. I think no one left the stadium before the third goal because the match was open.

“Our second game (against Juventus) was like a final for us, against one of the best teams in Europe, demanding everything we had to give from a physical and mental perspective.

“So, when I analyse the game – you can go for stats, that’s the way people who don’t understand football analyse, with stats – I don’t go for stats. I go for what I felt, for what I saw in the game.

“I consider the performance to be one with mistakes, it’s different to a bad performance. We were punished, but the performance, mentality, togetherness, belief, fighting until the end, is something we are building. We won’t lose that because of a defeat.”

Lukaku earned a penalty for the Red giving them hope of a comeback.

Mourinho managing his 300th Premier League match saw his team go down against the noisy neighbours, he believes key man Pogba’s presence would have made a difference and how Fellaini had to play full 90 min even when we was not fully fit.

“It’s not me to speak about a player who was not there after a defeat,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

“Of course, we missed him and one thing that broke a lot our plan was the fact Fellaini had to start (in Pogba’s place) because he wasn’t in the condition to play 90 minutes.

“He was phenomenal in his effort, but he wasn’t in condition to do it. Imagine this game with Fellaini fresh coming on for the final 20 minutes.”

Manchester United play Crystal Palace on 24th of this month at 8:30 IST.


Anthony Martial Scored 5th goal in 5 games.

“All I’m thinking about is Manchester United.”- Jose Mourinho.

Premier League

Manchester United was set to break the record and win their first game at Stamford Bridge after 2012 but Ross Barkley’s 90+6th-minute equalizer changed everything. It was a dramatic game not only on the field but on the sidelines as well, Jose Mourinho lost his cool after Sarri’s assistant Lanni purposely celebrated in front of Jose and his team. Sarri later cleared the air and made his staff apologize for the bad behaviour.

Mourinho on this issue:

“I’m serious, I want to thank Sarri for his honesty. I want to thank Chelsea for their honest too, but I’m not happy that it’s going too far with the young boy. He doesn’t deserve that. I accepted his apologies. I don’t think he deserves to be sacked”

The Reds are now preparing to face Italian giants Juventus in Champions League which will be played on Wednesday at 12:30 (IST). Both Ronaldo and Pogba will be facing their former teams, it will be an important game for both the sides and it will be an interesting game to watch.

Jose Mourinho: 

 On Real Madrid return:

 “No, I’m happy here, I’m happy to see out my contract and I’d like to stay after my contract runs out. All I’m thinking about is Manchester United.”

On Cristiano Ronaldo:

“I thought Cristiano is in a level where he doesn’t need questions and answers. He’s one of the best players of all time and nobody can say differently.”

On Juventus clash:

“United’s form was shown in the past two matches, the way we want to play and the way we can play.”

On Juventus being favourites to win the CL:

“Bonucci, they have Cancelo and they have Can and there are other important additions. Juventus have a lot to offer and an extra year experience with the same coach and structure.”

“They now have a special player who makes a difference. They are more than contenders to win the Champions League in my opinion.”

 On Valencia absence:

“Reason was he was 10 days without training. A problem that he had very complicated surgery on his mouth. Needed time to recover.”

“Against Chelsea, everybody was happy with the collective performance but nobody was happy with the result. The players have to get the best out of those feelings.”

On Pogba development:

“I don’t like this press conference. No. I don’t want to speak about Pogba, I don’t want to speak about individuals. I don’t want to speak to Spanish journalists only interested in Real Madrid.”

On Martial’s form:

“That’s individual but I think Martial is like the team. The team is playing fine and Martial is playing fine. Anthony has been involved in two matches where the team has scored 5 goals.”

That mind-blowing comeback against Everton.

Premier League

This is what United is all about, this is what we missed, team effort and never giving up attitude. The way the whole stadium celebrated when United scored said everything.

The game was good after the second half. It looked like the team was hungry and wanted to give whatever it takes to win this game.

It was necessary for the Reds to win this game after all the humiliate loses and controversies, this is for the fans and Jose Mourinho.

It’s safe to say we deserved to win, the overall team performance was decent in the second half.

Another record was broken United conceded two goals within ten minutes of the game at Old Trafford for the first time but the players did not let that affect the game.

Today’s win means that Jose Mourinho now has the best win per cent of any United manager including Ferguson

It was a roller coaster ride of emotions, after having a bad run at home there were a lot of expectations off today’s game and United going 0-2 down within ten minutes was not at all expected, the fans and media started talking about sacking Jose after first half itself. (If that was possible)

That relief when your team makes a comeback.

Mata’ brilliant free-kick gave the Reds hope to make a late comeback and soon after the first goal Marshall’s equalizer set Old Trafford on fire.

So happy for Sanchez, he got a lot of stick for not doing well and today he got own piece of cake. That 90’th minute comeback by Alexis Sanchez everything, I haven’t been so happy watching United lately.

Manchester United is eighth on the Premier League table, just 5 points away from the fourth position. Things wouldn’t have been so messed up if United would have managed to win against Brighton, West Ham and wolves at least. When the season fixtures were out I was confident United will take all three points from these games but the players had other plans.

The players did not give their 100% but the win gave the Reds time to breathe and come back with a positive mind. United play Chelsea on 13th Saturday at 5:00 IST.

Jose’s post-match interview:

It wasn’t the substitutions that won the game – it was the desire, mentality and commitment. This is not about me, this is not about the players, this is about the club, and in the second half, the players gave absolutely everything. Nothing more to give.

“I am 55 years old, I am mature, I can cope with it and live with being hunted. I think some of the boys are not coping well with it. The way they started the game was panicking (sic). I thought at some moments we could score in our own-goal. It’s not easy for them.”

When asked if players aren’t playing for him:

It’s a ridiculous talk [that the players aren’t playing for him] – they don’t play for the manager, they play for the club. It’s not about that. What I asked the players is to give absolutely everything. We had little tactical touches, of course, we risked a lot, we were trying to find the best way to play. In the end, we won the match and I think we deserved to win. I think the fans deserved to win. At 2-0 at half-time, with all the dynamic of the man-hunting, I think they behaved amazingly well for the team. This is what a football club is. “