United facing a repeat of Stamford Bridge chaos
Insiders fear the havoc Jose Mourinho leaves may infect Old Trafford, reports Matt Law
‘Palpable discord” was the phrase former Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo chose as the reason behind Jose Mourinho’s sacking three years ago and those words may yet prove prophetic for Manchester United.
Should Ed Woodward enter the Stamford Bridge boardroom ahead of today’s kick-off between Chelsea and Manchester United, he may well find the odd sympathetic ear. For the United chief executive must already be wondering what type of mess the club and Mourinho’s successor might be left to pick up, when the Portuguese eventually departs.
Faced with that question, one source told The Daily Telegraph this week: “Jose upsets and confuses his players with his political game plan, and leaves the staff divided and worn out.”
At least there is proof at Chelsea that the situation can be turned around quickly, although you will not find too many who argue with former head coach Antonio Conte’s claim that his Premier League title success was a “miracle” of sorts.
Seven members of the matchday squad that remained silent when Mourinho asked them “are you trying to kill me?” following a humiliating home defeat by Bournemouth are still at Chelsea.
That was the day, Dec 5 2015, when the penny dropped for some that, for Mourinho, it was all about him. He was asking about his own reputation, his own job and his own security. The only way out was to kill or be killed.
It was only 10 months later that Oscar, a midfielder Mourinho had accused of prioritising the 2014 World Cup over Chelsea, shared a dressing-room photograph of the players celebrating a 4-0 victory over United and their old manager on social media. The message was clear – the players had won.
History appears to be repeating itself, as Mourinho is locked in a similar battle with some members of his United squad.
Mourinho seems to actively encourage conflict and it was in the October of his final season that he hit out at the so-called “rats” inside Chelsea. In the first match after his sacking, some fans arrived at Stamford Bridge with banners accusing Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas of being the troublesome trio. Mourinho had also left it to interpretation over whether Hazard had been feigning injury during his final five months in charge.
The treatment of Hazard and the failure to get the best out of the club’s star turn can be compared with Mourinho’s problems with Paul Pogba. Chelsea fans who labelled Hazard one of the “rats” might warn United supporters not to rush into picking sides between the former Real Madrid manager and the France World Cup winner.
Another source said: “He made the Chelsea squad seem so useless, including the likes of Hazard, Costa, Fabregas, Pedro, Oscar and Cuadrado, and that was after forcing De Bruyne and Salah out.” Parallels have been made between Mourinho’s impatience with Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah, and his treatment of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
“There is no time to develop anyone with Jose,” The Telegraph was told. “You are either ready or you’re not. If you’re not, you’re out.”
While the relationship between manager and players can be relatively easily fixed by sacking Mourinho, there are other problems that can fester after his departure. The conflict he seemed to relish resulted in the breakdown of the relationship between goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and his coach Christophe Lollichon that could, ultimately, not be fixed.
A split between the first team and academy had also developed while Mourinho was in charge, which former Chelsea midfielder Josh Mceachran recently alluded to in an interview with the BBC.
“I walked in thinking, ‘yeah I’m going to have a pre-season with the first team’,” said Mceachran. “I went to walk into the first-team dressing room and one of the kit men said, ‘Josh, sorry mate but haven’t you heard? You’re down the corridor in the loan group’. I was like, ‘oh, wow. Cheers’.”
United youngsters such as Demetri Mitchell and Andreas Pereira may well have thought “cheers” after Mourinho responded to a pre-season defeat by Liverpool by saying: “Look, do you want him [Alexis Sanchez] to be happy with the players he has around him?”
The truth is, nobody at United seems particularly happy, just as nobody was smiling during Mourinho’s final months in charge at Chelsea. But palpable discord quickly becomes relief once the agony is over, even if the bleeding can take longer to stop.