Boring football, bust-ups and behind the times: Five reasons Man United board HAD to sack Jose Mourinho
JOSE MOURINHO just had to go.
The Special One, as he christened himself on our shores when he first arrived in England, struggled to win over the Manchester United faithful from the offset.
Here are the five reasons why the United board had no choice but to sack the Portuguese.
COACHING
Mourinho made his name by bringing the best out of people, turning average players into good, and the good into great, with Frank Lampard as a prime example.
The Porto side which won the Champions League in 2004, his first title-winning Chelsea crop and Inter Milan – they were all well-drilled, with every individual knowing his job.
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To watch a training session during Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea was fascinating and he seemed to be genuine innovator.
But in recent years, he seems to have fallen out of love with coaching and to have demanded ready-made players rather than creating them himself.
Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino, to name but three, have left Mourinho behind.
TACTICS AND STYLE
What was United’s plan on Sunday against Liverpool? Indeed, what has been United’s strategy for most of the season?
It was very hard to work out what Mourinho was trying to do and his players seemed to be similarly confused.
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It was hard to blame them, with so many changes of personnel and formation. It’s important to remember that Fergie’s last title-winning team of 2012/13 were hardly the great entertainers.
But whether realistic or not, United manager are expected to send out teams to play with a swagger.
David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal failed to do that. Under them and now Mourinho, the former philosophy of winning with style has been replaced by losing with tedium.
DEFENCE AND RECRUITMENT
For all the attacking potency of the great United teams that dominated the Premier League, they always had a solid defence behind them.
Mourinho leaves a side that has conceded more goals in 17 games this season than it did in the whole of the last campaign.
His frequent chopping and changing at the back undermined the chances of creating cohesion and understanding.
Mourinho made it clear he felt let down by the lack of centre back signings. On the one hand, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof were his buys, at £30m plus each.
But on the other, what United really need is a centre half of the quality (and cost) of Virgil Van Dijk. Despite how it sometimes looks, David De Gea is not a miracle worker.
MAN-MANAGEMENT
Mourinho used to be the master of protecting his players. He would create a scene or a scandal to deflect from a rare poor performance and very rarely criticise them in public.
Almost every time he made a situation about him, it had a deeper purpose and was part of building a bond with his players - a siege mentality in bad times and a supreme confidence in good.
This season Mourinho’s rants and boasts about past success felt pathetic, desperate and purely selfish.
He publicly criticised so many individual players that it’s hard to think of anyone who was spared his scorn.
A classic example was Scott McTominay. After the defeat at West Ham, Mourinho hailed the Academy product for showing the character the others lacked. The next week, McTominay was hooked at half time of the dramatic win over Newcastle and described as “scared” by his manager.
And as for Paul Pogba…the picture of the World Cup-winning Frenchman sitting on the bench and watching United slide to defeat against Liverpool told a thousand words.
BOARD AND OWNERS
Mourinho is not the only one to blame for the mess at United. After having one manager for 27 years, United have gone through three in fewer than six seasons.
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Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward may have overseen United’s return to the top of football’s money league but he has presided over a shocking decline in the business of winning on the pitch.
One big problem with the Glazer family is that they only seem to act at moments of crisis, such as giving Woodward the green light to fire Mourinho.
Otherwise they have left Woodward to get on with it, with less than impressive results. It's not only Sir Alex Ferguson that United have struggled to replace, it's former chief executive David Gill.
Much is made of the £1billion plus that the Glazers have taken out of United to pay for their takeover and in fees.
But they still managed to provide £400m-plus for transfers during Mourinho’s reign. United need a director of football to make sure less of the next wedge is wasted.