Can Woodward solve Mourinho malaise?
CHASING Jose Mourinho down the tunnel at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Ed Woodward did not look like a man working in harmony with his manager. ‘Jose, Jose …’ Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman called out anxiously as he caught up with Mourinho for what was a rather awkward encounter in front of the media. The body language from Mourinho — a shake of the head, a shrug of the shoulders — wasn’t difficult to read, and his reaction was hardly a surprise. An encounter that lasted just 22 seconds as United headed for the airport to fly home was the first meeting of any kind between the two men in 17 days on tour. Mourinho, 55, feels let down by Woodward’s absence, having already made clear his frustration over the delay in bringing in more new signings. The manager believes there has been a lack of support from his employers and is unhappy that United have not added to the £75million spent so far this summer on Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant, with four days left in the transfer window. He wants a new centre-back and to replace Anthony Martial with another forward, but is at odds with Woodward over the latter. United’s hierarchy rate the erratic Frenchman highly, and fear that it will be embarrassing if he realises his potential at a rival club. At least Mourinho has been able to welcome back more of his World Cup players ahead of this evening’s final pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena as they prepare for Friday’s Premier League opener at home to Leicester, with England duo Marcus Rashford and Phil Jones returning early to training at Carrington. Paul Pogba will not be back until next week and it remains to be seen what effect Mourinho’s needlessly negative comments about the Frenchman’s success in Russia will have on their fragile relationship.
Compare what he said about Pogba and the supporting cast for Alexis Sanchez on tour — ‘Look, do you expect him (Sanchez) to be happy with the players he has around him?’ — with the positive vibes coming more Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City camp.
His employers tried to brush it off as typical Mourinho behaviour. However, it’s understood they may have under-estimated his mood and that Woodward’s reaction — turning up in Miami to shake hands with the manager and players, and again on the flight home — was a belated attempt to make amends.
It didn’t work. Mourinho’s mood cast a dark shadow over the entire trip and created a negative atmosphere in camp that began to bring down the players, some of whom confided that it was the worst preseason they have known at United.
Increasingly, however, those close to Mourinho sympathised with his predicament. He had been forced to lead a high-profile tour of the US and face Real Madrid, Liverpool and AC Milan with a fraction of his first-team squad and without the two new players he has requested from Woodward. Of the few star names available to him, Sanchez joined the tour late due to visa issues and Martial went AWOL to be at the birth of his son in Paris.
Nemanja Matic arrived and was promptly sent for groin surgery in Philadelphia, while Antonio Valencia flew home injured with Mourinho criticising his captain for returning badly out of shape.
It came to a head with that extraordinary outburst after the 4-1 defeat to Liverpool in Michigan last weekend when Mourinho took aim at anything and everything around him. His comments to MUTV about Martial returning to the tour were particularly sensitive. It is understood United wanted to check the interview first, but a breakdown in communications saw it broadcast on their in-house TV station almost immediately.
By the time United reached Florida on the last leg of the tour, Mourinho was at his wit’s end.
‘This is s**t,’ he could be heard muttering repeatedly during one 20-minute phone call as he wandered around the lobby at the St Regis Bal Harbour Resort, where United stayed in Miami Beach.
The manager tried to make amends in his final press conference after victory over Real Madrid, praising his ‘phenomenal’ players and organisers Relevent Sports. But the damage was done. If United had paid someone to bring down the tour, he couldn’t have done a better job.
It’s not the united front that the club would want to project on the eve of a hugely important season.
Indeed, there are fears the wheels could come off if they make a poor start to the campaign after finishing 19 points behind City in May.
Some see a man seeking confrontation with his employers or, worse still, trying to talk himself out of a job. This is his third season at Old Trafford and he doesn’t usually stay around for much longer.