KILBANE JOSE SHOULD REMEMBER WHERE HE IS NOW
IF Manchester United are finally playing some decent football, why is Jose Mourinho being such a bore? The tantrums, the antics pitchside, even criticising his own players all seem premeditated and nothing is on impulse. He’s playing Sideshow Bob and it is totally unnecessary.
Mourinho looks thoroughly unhappy and I can hardly remember him smiling since he took over at Manchester United. And that includes the day he was introduced.
Of course the Manchester United job comes with enormous pressure but there has to come a time when you are embracing it.
Mourinho is still a brilliant manager, a master tactician who can still bring huge success back to Manchester United. But the sideshow that he has brought to Old Trafford is tiresome.
The sending off for kicking a bottle in last weekend’s draw with West Ham was harsh. But Mourinho has accumulated £288,000 in fines since he first came to the Premier League. Plus, in the incident he was angry about, which was a booking for Paul Pogba diving, Pogba dived.
And do you know what? Referee Jon Moss has had his run-ins with Mourinho and I think he just thought ‘I’ve seen this all before, and I can’t be bothered with it because I have enough to deal with’. He’s only human.
There are few referees or opposing managers, throughout Europe, who have not seen Mourinho at his petulant worst. All the histrionics have been regurgitated.
And he never apologises. It is Mourinho against the world, presumably in the hope his current club’s supporters agree and side with him. But I think Manchester United fans are already bored with it too.
Manchester United is not about Jose Mourinho. And he has to understand that.
He is the total opposite of his mentor Bobby Robson. There was no finer gentleman in the game, and you very rarely saw him berating referees or blaming them for defeats.
Mourinho learnt his trade and the art of football coaching and man management under Robson in Spain and Portugal. So why can’t he remember how to conduct himself when he learnt from one of the greats?
He could argue that the modern manager needs that stubborn streak, so he doesn’t need to apologise, and mean it. But where is the humility? Even Alex Ferguson would have his run-ins and slaughtered referees if he thought there had been an injustice.
He was temperamental to say the least, but it was not premeditated or attention-seeking, it was passion. And there was a humility about Ferguson when he was in the wrong or felt the officials genuinely deserved praise.
Of course Mourinho deserves respect for all he has achieved in the game but I personally lost a large amount of it for him when he put his CV into Manchester United while Louis van Gaal was still in the job.
Now, like most Manchester United fans, I was no fan of the Dutchman. And one thing I admire about Mourinho is that he will always prowl the technical area, whereas Van Gaal remained on the bench.
Where is this all going? Is he enjoying management and the additional responsibility of being Manchester United manager?
The irony is Manchester United are actually playing really well and the team is starting to come together. It’s further proof that, away from all the nonsense, Mourinho is a very good coach. But then that has never been in doubt.
They played very well in both games against West Ham in the last week but were unlucky not to win the league game and deserved to go through to the EFL Cup semi-finals.
Last weekend, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard both looked very good and showed great movement with Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing upfront and staying upfront.
In games earlier in the season, I have seen him drop too deep so he is almost playing in the holding midfielder’s position, or playing as the number 10 and collecting the ball from the defence and starting the attacks.
Last week he simply occupied the two centre-backs and he scored a goal from Paul Pogba’s super pass.
There is still more to come from Pogba. He may have played that incredible ball but I still have my reservations about him and I am still waiting for that sign that he can dominate games enough for Manchester United.
At the moment I don’t think he is moving the ball quickly enough and passing the ball into the striker’s feet and following that pass to get involved. He is clearly a superb athlete, quick, strong and great feet but you rarely see those flashes of brilliance you’d expect.
They made several changes from the cup tie at Old Trafford in midweek when Wayne Rooney looked good and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was excellent.
And defensively they looked sound in both games. Phil Jones has had a run of games at last and made a good return from injury alongside Marcos Rojo. Antonio Valencia has done well at right–back and Matteo Darmian has been good, too, but I don’t think he’s a good attacking full-back. So it’s starting to come together for Manchester United, despite Jose Mourinho acting like it’s all unravelling.