Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NOT SO SPECIAL ONE United fear at Pep’s lead over Jose LVG launches new attack on Reds
MANCHESTER UNITED have delayed handing Jose Mourinho a new contract.
Doubts are growing over whether he can take the club back to the summit of English football.
And former United boss Louis van Gaal has gone on the attack again in his bitter war with Old Trafford.
Last week, Dutch legend LVG branded Mourinho’s team as “boring” and accused Ed
Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, of being disreputable in how he had sacked the Dutch coach.
Now, Van Gaal, 66, has told United stars to quit the club, if left too long on the bench.
Van Gaal said: “Daley Blind (right) is better off going to Barcelona than staying with Man United. He is not even on the bench for United sometimes. Daley can play in more than one position and, at Barca, he would never be sitting in the stand.”
Old Trafford bosses have been shocked by the way Pep
Guardiola’s Manchester City have turned the title race into a procession, with Mourinho seemingly unable to respond.
And key boardroom members are also unhappy about the ultra-pragmatic, tactical approach employed by the Portuguese. Questions are now being asked whether Mourinho should be handed an extension on the three-year contract he signed in 2016.
United, who also have the option of triggering an extra 12 months on Mourinho’s current deal, were expected to hand the 54-year-old a fresh agreement that would also give him a significant rise on his £12million-a-year wages. It is evident that Mourinho is feeling the pressure of trying to beat his old foe Guardiola.
Mourinho has won the title in his second season at every club he has managed. But it is going to take a City collapse in the second half of the season – coupled with a United fightback – to maintain that record.