Mourinho wants vote of confidence to end uncertainty
Senior figures privately claim he is man for task Zidane not seeking job in England, agent says
Jose Mourinho is seeking the public backing of the Manchester United board this week as his future hangs in the balance.
The manager’s position has been strengthened a little by the events of the past few days, with one of the agents of Zinedine Zidane, regarded by many as the favourite to succeed Mourinho, distancing his client.
Alain Migliaccio was quoted in the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche as saying: “I don’t think he’ll go to work in England, as it is not compatible with his style or approach to football. I discussed it with him and the idea really does not attract him at all. He has chosen to take a sabbatical year and won’t change his mind on that.”
That view tallies with what sources close to Zidane are briefing: that he is unsure about the Premier League, and certainly the prospect of taking over a team mid-season.
United have not sounded out any candidates at present and are hoping Mourinho can turn things around and remain until at least the end of the season.
A 3-2 comeback victory over Newcastle United on Saturday was followed by Mourinho claiming there was a “manhunt” against him.
He also revealed that he was reassured in a text message from executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to ignore reports he would be sacked whatever the result.
According to sources, it is understood that Mourinho wants that reassurance to be made public – with a vote of confidence in him – but it is not United’s style, nor that of any big club, to make such a move.
Privately, senior United figures insist Mourinho has their support. Mourinho has a contract until June 30 2020, but there is an acceptance that results must improve, as does the atmosphere around the club.
United face a tough run of fixtures in a three-week period after the international break, with Chelsea away in the league followed by Juventus at home in the Champions League. They then have a home league game against Everton and are away to Bournemouth, before travelling to Juventus. After that they face Manchester City away.
United are second in their Champions League group and if they were at risk of not progressing, or if Lewis Dunk has received his first England senior call-up.
The Brighton & Hove Albion defender, 26, replaces Burnley’s injured James Tarkowski, who has withdrawn from the squad for the Uefa Nations League games away against Croatia on Friday and Spain next Monday.
Luke Shaw picked up a knock in Manchester United’s win over Newcastle and is a doubt. they lost ground in the top-four fight domestically, Mourinho would struggle to survive.
Neither does the Newcastle final result mask the problems, with Mourinho again bemoaning the lack of quality in central defence, Eric Bailly suffering the humiliation of being substituted after 19 minutes as Newcastle led 2-0, and Scott Mctominay being taken off at half-time.
The club will have noted that the fans turned on the board during the game as well as the pointed references made by former player Gary Neville about the hierarchy and Woodward in particular.
Juan Mata, who replaced Bailly and scored United’s first comeback goal, said that the supporters do not “deserve everything that is going on”. The Spaniard said he also hoped the result would give the team a mental lift.
“It was special,” he said. “We were losing 2-0, they created even more chances to score more goals and confidence levels were low. We needed to change something and when you have nothing to lose you just throw yourself blindly, let’s say.
“We couldn’t afford another defeat, we couldn’t afford another disappointment, especially for the fans. I think they saw today we tried everything, and we came back and from the mental point of view it’s a very important three points.
“I am very happy for the team, for us, but especially for the fans because they don’t deserve everything that is going on, so they deserve to see a team like today.”