Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Robbie on
PEOPLE have been asking me what the hell is going on at Manchester United, but the answer is simple enough: just Jose Mourinho.
It looks like a massive drama, a huge crisis, but really it’s just Jose being
Jose. He wants more money to bring in more players and it’s obvious the board are ready to call his bluff a little.
They’ve spent about £400million since he arrived so it’s fair enough, but that won’t stop him from creating his usual sense of theatre around the pre-season and his usual feeling that the squad simply isn’t good enough.
People are predicting it will all collapse around him and he will be gone before Christmas, but I don’t think the drama will impact United’s season like that at all.
What I do think, though, is that maybe
Jose’s actually right this time, and
United’s squad simply isn’t good enough to challenge
Manchester
City at the incredible level they showed last season.
I have to stress this is not an anti-United thing.
I like Mourinho, I’ve supported and defended him in this column, and I’m not buying into the sense of crisis.
But I do think they were in a false position to finish second last season and, so far, I’ve been more impressed by other clubs in the summer market.
So it wouldn’t be a huge shock if they finished outside the top four. I’m not predicting a meltdown, just more progress elsewhere.
And then the United board have a decision to make.