Looks Like Jose Mourinho’s Third Season Syndrome’s On Its Way At Manchester United
All this talk about Jose Mourinho. Jose didn’t get the transfers he wanted, Jose’s fallen out with Paul Pogba, Jose says it’ll be a difficult season, Jose’s lost the dressing room, Jose’s picking on his players again, Jose’s decided not to pick on his players anymore because when he does the press makes a big thing out of it, Jose’s just generally being a miserable bastard again.
We’re only two games into the season but apparently it’s crisis time already at Manchester United. Even for a third season Jose Mourinho campaign, this is working quickly. Jose basically spent his whole preseason moaning about having to play youngsters because of the World Cup keeping half his squad out (remember when he first got appointed and he dragged out a full list of names to prove his commitment to academy players over his career?). By the time he’d publically wrung out Anthony Martial for not catching the first flight back after leaving the tour to see his child born, he turned his focus towards a lack of transfers.
The transfer thing, as we now know thanks to football’s intricate system of media leaks, went as thus: Jose wanted a new top class centre-back. Ed Woodward, the club’s ‘executive vice-chairman’, was apparently happy to break the bank for another superstar… but only for a superstar. Paying massive, exorbitant 2018 fees for the likes of Harry Maguire (limited evidence of being top class) or Toby Alderweireld (top class but almost 30 and meant dealing with Daniel Levy) was not in his plans, particularly not after having signed Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly for Jose the past two seasons. It’s an area the club has already invested in.
As soon as the window shut up, so did Jose. Didn’t wanna moan about something he couldn’t change. But the second game of the season against Brighton, his team lost 3-2 and were pretty awful, worst of all being Lindelof and Bailly at the back. Now, those two are pretty talented defenders. They clearly don’t have much of a partnership, each would prefer a silkier leader and sweeper beside them. A Rio Ferdinand type. But they were awful against Brighton and Jose Mourinho signed and selected them both so it’s tough to be sympathetic, even though he clearly did need another defender. Maybe a returning Phil Jones can be that guy, he’d certainly help. Then again, he and Chris Smalling have their sloppy moments too. And Marcos Rojo’s a lovely battler but an absolutely reckless defender. Jose’s had five transfer windows and still doesn’t have a central defence partnership that works.
So, sure, on one had Ed Woodward has neglected to invest in a significant area of his team. Both he and Jose need to take some blame on this one. However think about it from Bailly and Lindelof’s position. Both trying to prove themselves at this level, both wanting to belong at Man United, and their manager very publically spends the whole preseason trying to sign someone in their exact position, then sulked when he didn’t get one. Neither has ever had an extended stretch in the first team thanks to injury and international duty. They’re coming in doubtful and confused, of course they’re going to struggle.
And that attitude begins and ends with the manager. He’s been complaining all preseason, now he wonders why his team are playing so timidly, so impatiently, so clumsily? Paul Pogba’s suggested his inconsistencies are to do with a general unhappiness but when he took some responsibility for that in the post-match, all he got was ripped to shreds by Paul Scholes and Phil Neville in the telly studio. This wouldn’t have happened in the days of Robson or Keane, says Phillip. Well, of course not. But this team doesn’t have those kinds of leaders because Jose Mourinho is the only ego allowed in that dressing room. Paul Pogba is the closest thing to being that figure and look where that’s got his relationship with the boss.
Ed Woodward’s far from blameless in this situation. He’s a business-first fellow whose priority has always been the showtime side of things ever since he took over. Big name signings and intense branding. Even hiring Jose Mourinho fits into that mould. And Woodward’s enabled by the Glazer ownership who basically spend all their time checking the stock markets and nothing else, keeping an otherwise disinterested view of the club. Appointing a technical director, in this case, sounds like it’ll be a good move – and it’s also a move that’ll undermine Mourinho, which is very interesting indeed.
Then there are the players who are so routinely underperforming. So boring to watch, so lacking in attacking flair. The players whose attitudes were down on the weekend and it cost them three points against Brighton & Hove Albion. Yeah… not buying that. Blaming the players is just a sporting way of blaming the workforce, they’re out there to do the job they’re told to do. Centre-back dramas or not, this team had one of the best defensive records in Europe last season because of a world class goalkeeper and some extremely negative tactics. Any 2-0 lead means on come another couple defenders and off come both wingers. Midfield supporters are always running underneath, asking for the safety first pass rather than making forward runs. Wingers are selected for how much they get back on defence rather than how many goals they can contribute.
That’s not the players’ fault. Neither the thing about their attitudes. And while Woodward and the Glazers have their own problems, all the current issues stem from a single person: Jose Mourinho. To put it bluntly, this team has peaked in their current incarnation. Second place to Man City is as good as it gets, they cannot improve any further under Jose. The bloke’s not got the tools to overhaul Pep Guardiola and he’s already proven that his only solution to that is buy buy buy.
The fact of the matter is that Jose Mourinho’s style of play, his footballing philosophies, are outdated. It’s all stuff that’s been written before but he’s a manager who exerts maximum control on a game. You can’t control possession-based footy from the sideline so that means prioritising defensive shape and frustrating an opposition (there’s also a tale about a frustrated player who never made it refusing to trust more naturally gifted players but whatever). His best moments as a manager came when he was able to take those stifling ideas and use them to shut down his old nemesis Pep Guardiola, whose ultra-possession based ideas are Mourinho’s exact opposite.
But Pep’s an open-minded boss which is why he’s constantly evolved and adapted with each subsequent job while Jose’s gotten more and more refined in his negativity. The game’s moved on though. A club like Manchester United is better than having to pander to a decade-old strategy, with their power and bankroll they should be on the cutting edge.
Jose’s not Sir Alex Ferguson and he hasn’t spent twenty years refining his influence over the club. He’s been there two and a half and has won two cup trophies (League Cup and Europa League) while never putting together a title challenge and completely skewering his only Champions League run as further proof that his methods don’t work anymore. Then blaming the ‘football heritage’ of the club for his inadequacies. That could’ve got him sacked on the spot and the worry for Man United is that he tends to swim against the tide like that whenever he’s in trouble, looking to drag down as many people with him as possible.
If there’s been an excessive media focus on the guy after just two games this season then it’s because everyone can see that this thing’s reaching boiling point. The players aren’t happy, the top suit’s not happy, the owners don’t care but the fans sure ain’t happy. Say what you will about his many attributes but Jose Mourinho is not a man who instils happiness. This is probably going to get worse before it gets better.