Jose Mourinho to Manchester United –
My Views –
2013 vs 2016
It’s impossible to read the future, you can make as many predictions as you like, you can make broad sweeping statements about your feelings and believe in them whole heartedly. But then again, things will change. Time will change everything. And time changes absolutely everything in football.
If someone had suggested that Jose Mourinho would be Manchester United manager to me in 2013, I would have launched a tirade of my vitriol toward them, with the crux of the argument detailed around his misgivings as a manager and as a person. While I do not know Jose Mourinho personally, his reflection in the media and his general demeanour stands out as a man who cares only about himself.
In 2013, under Sir Alex Ferguson, that is not what I would have wanted as a successor to the greatest manager in English football history.
In 2016…..well in 2016, things have changed. A lot.
David Moyes has happened to Manchester United.
Louis van Gaal has happened to Manchester United.
Things have changed.
The candidates –
2013 to 2016
In early 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement seemed years away, the seemingly unstoppable reign was destined to carry on forever. I was born in 1991, and Sir Alex is the only United manager I had ever known. But by May 2013, and a 13th League Championship, it was done. I remember being on the way to work and my phone buzzing with notifications about his retirement, it was surreal. But even then, I could never have foreseen the problems that would come the way of Manchester United; nobody could have seen those problems.
Looking back in hindsight is easy, but the real viable candidates for the United job before Sir Alex announced his retirement were –
Pep Guardiola
Carlo Ancelotti
Jurgen Klopp
Jose Mourinho
Somehow, some way, in an almost comical fashion, they all contrived to escape the clutches of Manchester United, and we were left with David Moyes.
The same David Moyes, who in 10 years at Everton, had won ZERO trophies. The same David Moyes, who in 10 years at Everton, had a highest placed finish of 4th, ONCE. The same David Moyes, who in 10 years at Everton, had NEVER won a league game vs the top 4 teams in the country.
This was the man tasked with replacing the best manager in English football history.
Throughout Moyes’ reign, United were awful, playing insipid, boring football, with awful results.
Then in 2014, Moyes was sacked.
In the summer of 2014 the candidates to replace David Moyes were sparse to say the least, only Jurgen Klopp would have actually been available, had United made a thorough approach for him. But United went for a man with more experience, a man who was spearheading Holland’s World Cup charge into 3rd place. Louis van Gaal’s reign at United has been the most consistent reign of all of his jobs in football, consistent in that once United take a step forward, you just know that deep down, they will take 3 steps back right after.
There’s not a lot to shout about as a United in early 2016 under Louis van Gaal.
In 2016, Jose Mourinho is the best candidate possible, with Pep off to City, and Klopp at the Kop.
Jose is the only one left.
Even other candidates, Carlo Ancelotti (Who has won another European Cup in the 3 years since Sir Alex has retired), Mauricio Pochettino, are tied up; Bayern and Tottenham have snapped them up and tied them down for the medium to long term.
Jose is the only one left, the proverbial last man standing.
This is Manchester United’s last chance to take a stand.
Jose Mourinho –
In 2013 my opinion of Jose Mourinho was very low indeed. As a football manager he had achieved a ridiculous amount, but the way he achieved his champagne moments left a sour taste in my mouth.
From ultra-defensive, ultra-cynical football vs Pep Guardiola’s dream team, to his constant put downs of then Roma manager, Claudio Ranieri, in the Serie A title race of 2009-10 to the inexplicable act of poking Barca assistant manager, Tito Vilanova in the eye during the aftermath of a highly charged Spanish Super Cup tie in the summer of 2011.
A manager who would do absolutely anything to win, even bore teams into submission, was never going to be my first choice to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. Mourinho’s vindictive, end result driven style of football wasn’t supposed to be what United fans should be yearning for, but we are. The club being having been dragged through the dirt by David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and hordes of spineless board members who see nothing but dollar signs, means that views and opinions have gone 180 degrees.
Nothing about Jose Mourinho’s personality resonated with me enough to want him become Manchester United manager. Nothing about Jose Mourinho’s style of football excited me enough to want him to become Manchester United manager.
In short, I did not like the man at all.
But that was then, and this is now.
And now…..United are a mess.
Manchester United –
2013 to 2016
In 2013, United stormed the league, and won the league at a canter, ending with an 11 point lead over Manchester City, which could easily have been a lot more if they had more to play for in the last 8 games where they picked up just 3 wins. But they could afford to do that as they filleted the competition in the Premier League, and had wrapped up the league with 4 games to spare.
Squad wise, United lacked a bit of high end quality, but the team had ridiculous amounts of options from the bench. From Shinji Kagawa to Danny Welbeck to Nani to Chicharito Hernandez, all of whom have been discarded by current incumbent to the United throne, Louis van Gaal.
Obvious holes in central midfield aside, the squad was packed to the brim with talent, and a genuine variety of players to fill certain gaps.
The first choice XI + 3 substitutes for the 2012/13 season –
De Gea
Rafael-Ferdinand-Vidic/Evans-Evra
Valencia-Carrick-Cleverly-Kagawa/Nani
Rooney/Welbeck-van Persie
10 of the 14 players I have mentioned above have left the club, with Rio Ferdinand having retired, Nemanja Vidic on the brink of retirement, but the rest of them are still playing at a relatively high standard.
Changing 10 of your top 14 players over 3 years is always going to be a struggle, and it wasn’t helped by the succession plan of David Moyes.
Moyes refused to trim the squad and add any quality into it in his first transfer window, if anything; he decreased the overall level of ability by adding the walking albatross known as Marouane Feillani. With the state of play in the Premier League becoming even more balanced between the worst and best clubs, the worst thing you can do is stand still while everybody else is running forward. Meaning that they are either catching up on you, or they are now getting further away.
David Moyes’ first choice XI + 3 Substitutes for his only season as manager of Manchester United in 2013/14 –
De Gea
Smalling/Rafael-Jones-Vidic-Evra
Valencia/Mata-Carrick-Cleverly-Welbeck/Januzaj
Rooney-van Persie
The transition period that United invariably faced after the departure of Sir Alex was mismanaged beyond belief. Moyes spent the majority of his first transfer window chasing unobtainable targets such as Gareth Bale & Cristiano Ronaldo, when the severely needed boost of quality into the midfield was ignored, almost to a criminal degree, when you see that in the summer of 2013, Thiago Alcantara, Kevin Strootman, Fernandinho, Isco, Mesut Ozil all changed teams that summer alone.
Moving backwards from the stale midfield, to an aging defence, the main men at the back needed to be replaced and phased out slowly, and again, the wrong decision was taken. Every time that Vidic, Evra & Rio Ferdinand were fit and available, they started, and that in 2014 wasn’t good enough. additionally, the only real leader left who could still compete at the highest level, Patrice Evra, had become so disillusioned by David Moyes, that he had already decided to leave before the season ended, to Juventus.
With the massive lack of leadership in the squad in terms of characters, United turned to a man who was well known for his style of football, and leadership skills, or so they thought, the Iron Tulip himself, Louis van Gaal.
Louis van Gaal’s first choice XI + 3 Substitutes for his first season as manager of Manchester United in 2014/15 –
De Gea
Valencia-Smalling-Jones –Shaw/Blind
Carrick
Mata-Herrera/di Maria-Feillani-Young
Rooney/van Persie
Louis van Gaal’s first choice XI + 3 Substitutes for his second season as manager of Manchester United in 2015/16 –
De Gea
Darmian-Smalling-Blind-Shaw/Rojo
Carrick/Schneiderlein
Mata-Feillani/Lingard-Martial
Rooney
With Louis van Gaal, United have a manager whose views are stuck in 1995, and who’s ideals are buried in the murkiest area of total football, the fully possession based, no flair style of play that bores even the most fervent United fan to tears. With the absurd amounts of access that we have to football matches nowadays, I never thought I would see the day that I would go out of my way to not watch a Manchester United game, but lo and behold, under Louis van Gaal & previously David Moyes, it occurred. During the run up to Christmas in 2015, United lost at Old Trafford to a bang average Norwich side, and my immediate reaction was to laugh, because if you don’t laugh, then you’ll cry. Throughout Louis van Gaal’s reign, United have been awful, playing insipid, boring football, with awful results.
The only players who have improved under van Gaal are the phenomenal goalkeeper, David De Gea, and centre back Chris Smalling, who always promised to become a commanding centre back. Every other player has run themselves into a brick wall, the brick wall of Louis van Gaal’s anti-panache football.
The likes of Marcus Rashford and Timothy Fosu-Mensah who have been saving van Gaal’s bacon in the last few months have been drafted in once injuries took their toll, but even with the good things that van Gaal has done at United, there is still the rough stuff you have to take with it.
The decision to lampoon Rashford out to the right wing as an auxiliary full back in the cauldron of Anfield, in his first full month as a professional footballer for the first team is bizarre to say the least, and then to haul him off at half time instead of playing him in his favoured position, is another peculiar decision. It is a similar story for defensive midfielder, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who has been shuttled across the creaky backline of Manchester United to fill in for the likes of perma crocks, Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo & Phil Jones.
Any manager who claims that he requires “senior creative players” after selling Angel di Maria, Nani & Shinji Kagawa & in addition spending the better part of £350m in 2 years, with no “senior creative players” to show for it, is a man who shouldn’t be a manager for a major football team in 2016. Even the likes of Adnan Januzaj and Andreas Pereira, 2 of the inventive stars from the under 21 side who are champions at that age level, have been discarded by van Gaal, in favour of the more basic footballer with a more hard running style in Jesse Lingard.
Louis van Gaal’s United team have sparkled in a handful of games, the run of 4 games in the spring of 2015 (vs Tottenham, vs Liverpool, vs Aston Villa, vs Man City) were the example to prove that rule that van Gaal is a boring football manager, and a manager who’s methods are simply not suited to English football.
The team storming away with the league as I write this, Leicester City, have a team based around pace and work rate, which is almost the exact opposite of this Manchester United side where pointless possession and sideways passing is the order of the day.
From the constant changing of the first XI, to the asinine full back substitutions that plague every game under van Gaal, United fans are being forced between a rock and a hard place, on one side is a previous hated rival, who antagonizes and frustrates in equal measure. And on the other, a man who is the current incumbent to the United throne, a man who antagonizes and frustrates in equal measure.
The major difference between the two is that Jose Mourinho understands English football, and can thrive and succeed where van Gaal has failed. Mourinho brings a plan to each game; he offers an approach and a strategy that has brought success to every single one of the clubs he has managed.
It is unrealistic to suggest that Mourinho will bring a style of football to Old Trafford to have every single United fan singing from the same hymn sheet, but he will bring that never say die attitude, that backs to the wall, everybody is against us mind-set, that has been sorely missing since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. Mourinho will win trophies at Manchester United, and what will make Manchester United fans happier than that?
If United fans are worried about the actions of Jose Mourinho at previous jobs, I fully understand and will agree with those sentiments; his statements to the press and behaviour have often been downright atrocious. But if you ask any Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal or Chelsea fan what their thoughts are on Sir Alex Ferguson, you can almost guarantee that they feel the same way about Sir Alex, as I do about Mourinho.
Football fans hate winning managers from rival clubs, every ex Liverpool player who is a pundit on TV these days has been championing Ryan Giggs as the next United boss, ask yourself why.
They know that he is an unknown quantity who will most likely fail as a manager of the biggest club in the world at this point. Occasionally they will argue that Pep Guardiola has succeeded to become one of the best and most influential managers of all time from being given a chance at Barcelona in 2008, however for every Pep Guardiola, see countless examples of managers who have failed at big clubs and will struggle to break through that glass ceiling of being a manager at a major force in football. Former United alumni Paul Ince, Steve Bruce, and even the brains of the fabled Class of 92, Gary Neville, have all failed at jobs that are less pressured than the role at Manchester United.
It takes a special man to thrive at a mega club in 2016, and there is only one, real, viable option available out there for Manchester United to get back to the top. And that man is the self proclaimed “Special One” himself, Jose Mourinho.
fútbolfanatic 