Ed showing no signs of ending Mourinho reign
IF Jose Mourinho had his way, United would probably be embarking on an unprecedented third successive tour of the US next year.
The United boss may have looked more than a little displeased during press conferences in the Land of the Free last summer, soldering on without his World Cup stars, but that had nothing to do with the facilities at the UCLA. Or the favourable humidity in Los Angeles. Or how his players could roam freely around the campus.
Behind the scenes, the mood in the camp was positive. United’s young squad bonded over Fortnite tournaments and table tennis competitions while nightly initiations proved popular after dinner. Just as Mourinho had hoped.
United were so keen to grant Mourinho’s wish – ‘I will try everything with my club to be back’ – that they sent a club delegation to the UCLA in October, 2017 to agree some key details ahead of a training camp nine months later.
Mourinho has toured the US more than any other far-flung location as a manager and feels he has the best conditions to work there – a view reinforced by United’s disastrous tour of the Far East in 2016.
It is telling United are not planning on being based in Asia for the duration of their 2019 tour and two dates in Australia have already been confirmed.
“See you Down Under!” Mourinho laughed at the end of the club’s promotional video. While that may seem insignificant, it was noted how Louis van Gaal did not make the cut in United’s 48-second clip in 2016 – despite featuring heavily the previous two years.
At that stage, in March, United were just one point off the top four with eight games to play and had just beaten City at the Etihad.
And, yet, Van Gaal was nowhere to be seen. With just one year left on his contract, the Dutchman had to bat away repeated questions about his future as the shadow of Mourinho loomed large. But it feels a different situation with Mourinho. Woodward is not one for publicity but he has not shied away from backing his manager in his quarterly conference call with investors on the New York Stock Exchange in recent months. In September, he told them ‘everyone at the club is working tirelessly to add to United’s 66 and Jose’s 25 trophies’ – this month, he said ‘the squad and manager are fully united in their determination to regain our momentum in the Premier League.’ The top four, obviously, remains the minimum requirement for the Glazers and David Moyes and Van Gaal only lost their jobs when that was mathematically impossible. Ciaran Kelly
Although United are seven points off the top four, Mourinho believes his side will be in a much better place at the end of the year.
It is hard to argue with that – provided his players’ attitude is right in winnable games against Southampton, Fulham, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Bournemouth.
United chiefs have taken positives from a topsy-turvy campaign, the manner of the first-half performance in the 3-0 defeat to Spurs for example, and Mourinho still has 18 months left on his contract, with the option of an additional year.
There have been no secret meetings with Zinedine Zidane and Mourinho is busy planning ahead, embarking on scouting missions during the winter international breaks, for example.
United have more than 50 scouts on their books but Mourinho will never turn down a rare chance to watch a player of interest in the flesh as he has in Podgorica and Brussels in the last month.
He’s already looking ahead to 2019.