Man U’s Mourinho on the ropes
José Mourinho’s had a decidedly shaky start to the Premier League season – could he be in danger of losing his job? COMPILED BY KIRSTIN BUICK
FANS are seeing red. Their once unbeatable team is floundering, slipping down the log almost as fast as the ball seems to be sailing through goalkeeper David de Gea’s fingers. And the Old Trafford faithful are hurling the blame squarely at manager José Mourinho’s feet. There was a little ray of sunshine when they beat Burnley 2-0 but the Red Devils are hardly out of danger – and their recent 3-0 trampling by Tottenham Hotspur is still fresh in supporters’ memories. Supporters left Old Trafford in droves, giving up on their beloved team long before the final whistle blew. The debacle came after Man United scraped a 2-1 home win against Leicester City before a 3-2 defeat to Brighton. After the exodus, the ever-pompous Portuguese manager brushed off the defeat with his own baffling brand of Mourinho logic: “By the strategic point of view, we didn’t lose. By the tactical point of view, we didn’t lose. But we lost the game.”
But he saved his usual headlinegrabbing antics for the post-match press conference, where his famous temper got the better of him.
After a rather spectacular rant Mourinho lashed out at a reporter. “What was the result?” he asked, then held up three fingers. “3-0.”
“But it also means three premierships, and I’ve won more premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them.”
He then did exactly what United fans had done earlier – he stormed out. “Respect, respect. Respect man, respect,” he muttered to the reporters as he went, gesticulating wildly with his hands.
Mourinho was far more upbeat after the Burnley game, smiling and clapping from the sidelines and then telling the media conference he was “delighted with the result”.
He then alluded to the controversy surrounding him. “But I think some of you must be disappointed. For you it would be much better if we lose.”
To be fair, Mourinho has 17 league trophies to his name, including the three Premier Leagues, two Serie As and two Champions League titles.
But what the self-proclaimed Special One can’t seem to grasp is Manchester United fans couldn’t give a fig about how much silverware he added to Chelsea, Real Madrid or Porto’s cabinets.
Because United’s cabinet is gathering dust – and many people are baying for his blood.
RESULTS haven’t always been this bad – in Mourinho’s first season, Manchester United won the League Cup and the Europa League. Although they finished sixth in the Premier League in 2016, United were runners-up to Manchester City last season.
Mourinho signed a three-year contract with the team in 2016, with an option to renew until 2020. But if recent rumours are to be believed, he may be shown the door far sooner.
There’ve been whispers that former Real Madrid boss and French football legend Zinedine Zidane is waiting in the wings to take over.
United bosses’ official position seems to be “there’s nothing to see here, folks”, with one senior source at the club quoted as saying, “Why would we discuss [Zidane] when there’s no job available?”
Press Association Sport also reported Mourinho “retains the full backing of the club’s hierarchy”.
But that’s done nothing to dissuade the bookies, with SkyBet giving Mourinho 10/11 odds of being the first Premier League manager to be given the boot this season.
Former Red Devils winger Lee Sharpe doesn’t think the coach is safe either.
“Mourinho is on trial again,” the former England national said. “He hasn’t looked happy since he’s been at the club.
“There just seems to be no plan at Man United. Nobody seems to know where they should be going and what they should be doing.
“I’ve heard a little whisper that the manager isn’t really giving them a lot of instruction before games. He’s just picking the team and letting them get on with it.
“It seems to me he hasn’t got the players he wanted this summer, and he’s gone into a bit of a sulk. I don’t think it’s good for team morale.”
Another Old Trafford hero, Bryan Robson, thinks Mourinho just needs more time.
“It’s too easy. The minority of fans in clubs will be asking for the manager’s head after a few bad results and often they speak the loudest,” he said. “The track record that José has holds up. After three games, you don’t talk about sacking the manager, you encourage and back him.”
MOURINHO has long been plagued by a “third season” curse, writes Cady Siregar of soccer website Goal.com. “Mourinho has a tendency to self-implode rather spectacularly in his third season at past clubs he’s managed.”
And what makes this “curse” so bizarre is it usually follows a decent campaign – like his second-season second-place Premier League finish last year – coupled with “his increasingly aggravated offpitch outbursts”.
This happened during Mourinho’s first stint at Chelsea, when the Blues, following consecutive title wins in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge, were toppled from the No 1 spot by Man United.
Mourinho reportedly had a fall-out with club owner Roman Abramovich and walked out at the start of the 2007/2008 season “by mutual consent”.
After a successful stint at Inter Milan from 2008 to 2010, Mourinho took the reins at Real Madrid and a similar pattern ensued. In his second season, the side beat nemesis Barcelona for the La Liga trophy, accumulating 100 points in one season – something Mourinho is still loath to let the world forget.
But the season that followed was disastrous as the previous one was glorious. It was characterised by infighting and Mourinho fell out with key players, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
The club finished 15 points behind Barca in La Liga, toppled out of the Champions League in the semifinals and lost Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid. The Special One left the Santiago Bernabéu three days after the end of the season.
Back at Chelsea in 2013, more of the same. In Mourinho’s second season back at the helm the Blues took the Premier League. In the very next season, their disastrous showing left them a laughable 16th on the log. After losing nine of their 16 Premier League matches, Mourinho was sacked in December 2015.
Even he seemed to fear what might unfold in his third season at United. In a series of rash interviews before it had even begun, Mourinho lashed out at club bosses for the lack of transfers. “I gave a list to my club of five names a few months ago,” he said in a passive-aggressive rant. “And I wait to see if it’s possible to have one of these players.”
Not long after, “Moan-inho”, as the media dubbed him, turned his wrath on the young players who’d bolstered the team’s ranks during their US summer tour.
“This is not my squad,” he said after a string of loses during the team’s US summer tour. “This isn’t even half my squad, or 30% of it.”
When pre-season training at Old Trafford began – with many of the club’s stars still on leave after the World Club – the usually bombastic boss admitted he was scared.
“We’re going to start without the players that were involved in the World Cup, without proper training for them and it’s going to be hard. Honestly, I fear it a bit.”
Well, we can’t say he didn’t warn us.