Rivals united in schadenfreude at Mourinho’s departure from Old Trafford

WHEN new of Jose Mourinho’s sacking as manager of Manchester United came through on Tuesday morning it gave rise to an odd phenomenon. When supporters of United’s main rivals - Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea - should have been indulging in a bit of schadenfreude at the fall of the manager at Old Trafford, the opposite was the case. Fans of those clubs actually wanted the not so special one to stay on as manager there such was the rotten job he was doing there.

Liverpool’s 3-1 win over their hated rivals last Sunday will be now seen as the tipping point that led to Mourinho’s sacking, but the tongue-in-cheek joke on Sunday evening was that Jurgen Klopp’s team might have been better off with just a 2-1 win so as to keep the guillotine from falling for at least another week.

The fear now is that Man United might actually appoint a manager who will transform the club back to the glory days they enjoyed for so long under Alex Ferguson.

It would be wrong to ascribe United’s fall from grace as a force of English and European football as all Mourinho’s fault, but after the ill-fated managerial reigns of David Moyes and then Louis van Gaal post-Ferguson, the Portuguese was seen as the messiah that would turn around the fortunes of the Red Devils. Instead what they got in Mourinho was the devil incarnate - a man and manager who has descended into such a spiral of negativity and paranoia and surliness that it could only end one way: in tears and dismissal.

Sympathy for Jose? It’s difficult to have much for a man so vainglorious as to be the self-appointed Special One, and while his managerial record across Portugal, Spain, Italy and England is hugely impressive it cannot be forgotten that with the exception of, perhaps, Porto, Mourinho has only managed clubs that have had an embarrassment of financial riches available to him.

When he first came to Chelsea he had the unlimited millions of club owner Roman Abramovich to build and rebuild his teams at the Bridge, and it was the same at Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Mourinho, despite his claims to the contrary, was exactly short of funds at Old Trafford either. £94 million for Paul Pogba, £76 million for Romelu Lukaku, £53 million for Fred, £40 million for Nemanja Matic, £38 million for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, £34 million for Eric Bailly, £31 million for Victor Lindelof and £30 million for Alexis Sanchez isn’t exactly small potatoes over the two and a half years he was at the club, but until his last day in charge he wanted more, more, more.

There’s no doubt that Pep Guardiola has had access to more funds across the city at City, but Liverpool’s two more expensive signings under Klopp - goalkeeper Alisson and defender Virgil van Dijk - were funded almost completely by the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona. Was Mourinho ever interested in offloading an really decent player to general cash to fund the spending spree he always seemed to want to embark on?

And what about actually being a manager? At what point does the man in charge have to stop simply trying to buy all the best players in the world and start to work with the squad of clearly hugely talented players already in one’s squad?

Somewhere along the line, between his Porto and early Chelsea days Mourinho departed ways with the person that made him such a great manager - getting the very best out of whatever he had at his disposal - to looking for every excuse for the failings of his teams since his mediocre three years at Real Madrid at the start of this decade.

The arrogant yet likeable Jose that pitched up at Stamford Bridge in 2004 has been replaced by an embittered manager who looks as if he hasn’t wanted to or been able to move with the modern game.

The defensive type of football he wants from his teams isn’t the type of football wanted at Manchester United nor is it the kind of football going to win enough of games in the Premier League of today. Even the average teams can routinely pick of goals and victories against the top sides.

As is the way with the modern game, Mourinho won’t be out of a job too long and will bring his inimitable style to some big club or other, but the sense now is that his days in the Premier League are finished.

The same cannot be said for Manchester United who, with the right appointment, will bounce back and challenge for all the major honours.

As a Liverpool supporter Sunday’s 3-1 thumping of the old enemy was a joy to behold but now we have to be careful for what comes next. With a bit of luck the blazers at Old Trafford might reach out to Roy Keane. We’d take that at Anfield!