Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
United stagnate under the ( ) Manager formerly known as Special One as City soar under Pep CONTRAST IN MANCHESTER’S FOOTBALL STYLES SHOWS MOURINHO IN BAD
WHEN Manchester United hired Jose Mourinho, they believed they were guaranteeing a return to the top after three years of misery and regression.
“A trophy hunter” was how executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward viewed Mourinho, on the Special One’s much-heralded arrival at Old Trafford almost two years ago.
And when Mourinho won the League Cup and Europa League in his debut season, the appointment seemed vindicated, even accounting for a sixth-place Premier League finish. But in the wake of Tuesday ’s abject Champions League exit to Sevilla (illustrated by the p l aye r s , r i g h t ) , Unit e d ’s progress under Mourinho has been shown to be largely illusory.
The football revolution on the other side of Manchester under Pep Guardiola has ser ved only to shine an unforgiving spotlight on Mourinho’s limitations by comparison.
City were able to absorb a trophy-less first campaign under Guardiola in the knowledge he was building something special, their faith vindicated with this season’s easons remarkable form, which ch could yet see them win a Treble.
But while City are playing arguably the e best football the Premier er League has ever seen under Guardiola, Mourinho’s United lack any kind of f identity.
They trail City by 16 points and have yet to beat them in the Premier League under r Mourinho and while
Un it e d may h av e beaten Tottenham , Chelsea, Liverpool and d Arsenal this season, the footba football that achieved those vi victories has been l largely joyless.
United fans could just about stomach M Mourinho’s unambitio tious style if it was yieldi ing results consistently, but even that is not the case n now.
Guardiola may have spent more than the Portuguese in their two seasons in Manchester – £ 3 6 5 . 8 5 mi l l i o n to £291.3m, but City remain in the Champions League, are about to be crowned
MCPremier League champions and already have the League Cup in the bag.
The best United can hope for this season is a potential FA Cup win and second place in the Premier League, which is simply not good enough for a club of United’s stature, ambition and resources.
Yet the warning signs have been there all season, despite United’s perceived progress. What was largely overlooked in the euphoria of beating Liverpool was United spent almost all the second-half clinging on.
That is not the United way and those in charge at Old Trafford know that, as do the