MANCHESTER UNITED
Mourinho unhappy with recruitment
On the face to it, United should be genuine contenders. They have the superstar names in Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, David De Gea and Romelu Lukaku; a marquee manager in Jose Mourinho, who has won the Champions League with Porto and Internazionale; and they have an outstanding honours board in the competition, having been winners three times, runners-up twice and semi-finalists on seven occasions.
So why all the negativity which seems to be engulfing the club right now?
One reason is their distinct lack of Premier League success in the post Alex Ferguson era and the seeping away of their once iron-clad self-belief.
The other root cause is their poor attacking play of recent times, with David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and now Mourinho all failing to produce the sort of fast, fluid and positive football that the Old Trafford faithful crave.
Nor is Mourinho exactly a picture of contentment. Throughout pre-season he constantly complained about the club’s transfer activity, claiming that he had submitted a wish-list of five players for one specific position – thought to be centre-back – of which none have been signed. In the end, United only brought in two players during the window: Brazilian midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and teenage Portuguese right-back Diogo Dalot from Porto.
Was it wise to make Pogba captain?
So inconsistent for United since returning to Old Trafford a couple of years ago, the French midfielder might just respond to the added responsibility. At this summer's World Cup in Russia he displayed a more mature, hard-working side to his game. As his national team-mate Adil Rami said: “Paul was the man we all looked to. He carried us at important moments. He became a real leader.”
Just how secure is Mourinho in the United hot-seat ?
It all depends on Premier League points and Champions League progress, but whatever happens his power base does appear to be shrinking. By rejecting his recruitment shortlist the Old Trafford powers that be effectively told the Portuguese that they did not trust his judgement. That cannot augur well for the future.
Does the side have a fault line in central defence?
Mourinho certainly thinks so. If he didn’t, he would not have been advocating major surgery in this sector. With no new reinforcements it is now up to the likes of Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof to prove their boss wrong.