Conte’s quick fix at Chelsea has Mourinho riled big-time, says Souness
GRAEME SOUNESS believes Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho remains wound up ‘big-time’ by Antonio Conte’s instant success at Chelsea. Chelsea sacked Mourinho midway through last season after the club suffered a nightmare start to the campaign only months after lifting the Premier League title under the Portuguese coach.
Italian manager Conte has made rapid strides and his side can take a major step towards title glory if they can overcome United today.
The two teams meet at Old Trafford and Mourinho has already been irritated by a 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in October and then a volatile FA Cup loss last month.
When asked if Mourinho harbours a grudge about his successor’s impact at Chelsea, Souness replied: ‘Big-time. They won the league the year before and then, for whatever reason, the players downed tools. That shows you the power of the modern-day dressing room.
‘One of the biggest names in management in world football and they got him out of the door.’
At the heart of Liverpool’s midfield, Souness won five titles in six seasons and he believes such consistency and longevity of success is no longer possible in the modern era.
‘At Liverpool, the man who has just passed away was the best that there has ever been at making sure that never happened,’ he said. ‘Ronnie Moran was the single biggest influence on my playing career.
‘You were always living under the impression that: “Yeah, yeah, you’re an OK player, collectively you are a decent team but you’re not like the players we’ve had here in the past”.
‘Obviously we were because we were winning things. I remember beating one of our close rivals 4-0 at home and you’d walk into the dressing room and Joe Fagan is there, Ronnie Moran is there, and he’d shout across: “Joe, we weren’t very good in the secondhalf today, were we?”
‘Joe would reply: “Ah you’re right Ronnie, we weren’t!” We’d just won 4-0! There were constant reminders of the levels expected of us.
‘The dynamic has changed completely. In the modern game, the tail wags the dog. You don’t need two better examples than Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri. Mourinho is one of the biggest names, won the league the year before and Ranieri at Leicester, the champions, same story, they get rid of the manager.’
Sky Sports pundit Souness believes Mourinho has reignited the belief at United but insists the pressure is on to secure a Champions League spot.
Souness added: ‘He has got a trophy and United supporters are encouraged by the football they are playing. For me, they have the player of the year there in Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
‘United are the third biggest team in the world — only behind the two big Spanish clubs and on a par with Bayern Munich in terms of size and stature. It would be very disappointing for them not to get in the Champions League. I think they will, but through the Europa League.’
The former Rangers manager does, however, believe Mourinho faces a huge task to bring the best out of world-record signing Paul Pogba.
‘He’s finding it difficult,’ Souness added. ‘I’d liken him to the boy at Everton, Ross Barkley. He has technique of a certain level but does he have a great understanding of the game? Both of them. They have a trick on the ball, look silky, in Pogba’s case he has a real engine to go up and down. He has a long way to go.
‘Let’s simplify it: he needs to develop a football brain. Michael Carrick has been the best central midfield player they have.
‘Paul Scholes had it in abundance. Proper players have it. If you have a good football brain, you can hide deficiencies. You don’t get caught out. But if you break the record transfer fee, you have to give him time.
‘Ideally with that price tag, he’d be coming to a club that’s flying. He’s only 24 but I had a football brain by then.’
Sky Sports will show Manchester United v Chelsea exclusively live along with the north London and Manchester derbies later this month.