Your complaining is draining, Jose
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JOSE MOURINHO is in danger of moaning away the Premier League title.
Manchester United’s boss may be a master media manipulator but his downbeat tone is not what the hordes want to hear.
We are two weeks from the big kick-off against Leicester – and the fine wines that used to reside in Sir Alex Ferguson’s Old Trafford office have been replaced by whines of an altogether different sort.
Mourinho is a charismatic, box-office figure – never better when he’s looking down on the rest of football from the vantage point of the podium, garland around his neck, pouring scorn on the losers below.
And he’s never worse when he’s throwing a tiny tears tantrum as he has been this week.
A point-blank refusal to answer a run-of-the-mill question during the pre-season tour of America about Manchester United’s chances in the title race was turned into an ‘I don’t answer the question’ response.
This is on top of a pointed barb at Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and a general whinge about the fact that as a top manager at a top club he’s had to make do without a few players who travelled deep in the World Cup.
Of course, Mourinho gets what’s going on, he knows what he is doing.
Ever since he was cast in the role of the late Sir Bobby Robson’s translator at Barcelona, he’s been used to the glare of the TV camera and the presence of a microphone.
He doesn’t mind the verbal jousting. And he always uses the media to twist the agenda – whatever agenda that may be – in his direction.
It’s a shame more managers don’t view the assembled press as an opportunity to slant arguments their way.
I’m not talking about the levels Sam Allardyce sank to at Everton where he simply refused to acknowledge anything
UNAI EMERY says Arsenal are going to welcome back Mesut Ozil following his controversial World Cup and subsequent retirement from international football with Germany. Honestly, what other option do they
have? other than that which reflected his personal brilliance.
But you can drop in the odd comment. It is normally picked up and a follow-up question from the floor will take any manager where they really wanted to go. This complaining is draining.
It’s really conduct unbecoming of the office.
Fergie – great to see him well, by the way – might have made the odd comment about ‘noisy neighbours’ but did he spend the majority of his time waffling on about other clubs?
Challenge
We all know the score: Mourinho clearly wants some more players.
In today’s world, where multi-million pound contracts are at stake – and where they can be used as a stick to beat managers if they fail to toe the party line – the Portuguese can hardly become a man o’ war and start hammering his paymasters to cough up. Or can he? He could simply pick up the phone and say to Ed Woodward: “Any chance?”
Surely Manchester United fans would rather him say: “Look, we finished 19 points behind the title winners last season. It’s going to be tough. We’re WOLVES are becoming Portugal Light. Two more new faces this week at Molineux, both from Iberia, as super-agent Jorge Mendes helps himself, sorry, the club, acclimatise to the Premier League. Wolves fans won’t care. Just as Arsenal’s didn’t over the sudden going to have to be tough. We are not the only ones chasing this prize. The competition is fierce.
“But that’s the challenge for us. Last season we recorded our best points tally since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. We need to build on that. Will it be enough? I don’t know.
“But what I do know is that the players I’ve bought in are now finding their feet. They are getting used to the unique pressure that playing for Manchester United brings.
“We have some top quality players – I would like a couple more and I’m confident the board will get them – and we will give this a right crack.
“I can see the progress. We are moving forwards, how much I will tell you at the end of the season.”
It’s upbeat. It gets the message across. It’s not negative and it doesn’t leave every Manchester United fan groaning.
It’s still a fantastic job at a fantastic club. For such an engaging, intelligent personality, what a shame Jose can’t convey that fact more positively. French influence after Arsene Wenger took over.
We are used to it now. Watford had a team of 11 nationalities a couple of years ago, Manchester City and Chelsea have global teams as do Manchester United and Liverpool. Which is all very well and good – until the next international tournament and people wonder why young English players no longer get a chance in the Premier League.
Club football takes preference. Until such time as there is no club football and we’re all wondering why players are capped who’ve not even played 90 minutes domestically.
TWELVE months ago, there was a suggestion at Everton that the right hand didn’t know what the left was doing. Before Evertonians start foaming at the mouth, I’d ask: Whose bright idea was it to sign Davy Klaassen, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney at the same time? Following the exits of two of them, it’s cost the club around £25million. Again, one question: Why was this allowed to happen?