This morning, Jose Mourinho was hired as manager of Manchester United. It was a job he spoke about continually after departing Chelsea in 2007, as he hoped to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson upon his retirement. Ferguson chose David Moyes instead, and Mourinho went back to Chelsea, where he had one good year, one great year, and half of last year which ended in a complete disaster. Meanwhile, Manchester United have been far below their historical standards, finishing seventh, fourth and fifth in the past three seasons.
As a Chelsea supporter, I don’t blame Mourinho at all, or hate him, for joining Manchester United. His players revolted on him at Chelsea and Roman Abramovich had no choice but to fire him. The Premier League is one of the most emotional sporting competitions in the world, and clearly the locker room at Chelsea was not behind him. I expressed my disdain for the chief antagonists in that development in my last post and I hope they’re shipped out of London this summer. Anyway, Mourinho isn’t exactly an endearing coach. It’s his way or the highway, and when things are going well, he is the first to bask in the glory. When things aren’t going so well, it quickly falls apart for him. The United board was already hesitant to hire him so I don’t expect him to be on a long leash. He hasn’t exactly had the best relations with boards of directors at his previous clubs.
There are a number of issues in play here. I believe many United fans misunderstood the purpose of Louis Van Gaal’s tenure. Not particularly endearing himself, Van Gaal rarely displayed the type of vigor many United fans wanted to see (but his flop on the touchline was pretty epic). It was his job to transition the team from the disaster that Moyes gave him to a title challenger in three years. The team finished lower in the table this year, and some of his purchases were certainly questionable, but he helped develop many of United’s best players. Marcus Rashford made a splash when Van Gaal put him in the lineup (he scored a goal on his debut for England today), and Van Gaal helped develop Memphis Depay and Daley Blind with United and previously with the Dutch national team. Anthony Martial is arguably the best position player on the team. Van Gaal has a strong record of developing youth and did relatively well with a young team. Jesse Lingard scored the winner for him in the FA Cup final, his final game. Was winning the title ever a realistic goal with the squad he had? Absolutely not. Tactically, United were very boring, and I think that’s why he was ultimately fired. Also, missing out on the Champions League because of the loss at West Ham was a killer.
As for Mourinho… First things first, if Mourinho is allowed to spend at will, United will be a contender, regardless of his antics. Mourinho has a way of getting the best out of players with somewhat obscure personalities – his great relationship with transfer target Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a perfect example, as is the 2014-15 performance of Diego Costa. United finished fifteen points behind Cinderella-side Leicester, their closest finish to the top since Sir Alex left, so it’s not like Mourinho needs to pull some sort of miracle to take them towards the upper echelon. He also has the best goalie in the league in David De Gea. He will need to buy, especially for midfielders and a striker, and if he is allowed to do so, it’s hard to see United struggling again.
However… there are a number of ways Mourinho just doesn’t fit the club:
- He doesn’t trust youth. Van Gaal has spent the last two years developing players, many through the academy, a United staple. Their golden generations have come through the academy and shined for years as homegrown players. Young players like Marcus Rashford, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Adnan Januzaj are not going to play under Mourinho. He simply doesn’t do it. He will buy more experienced players to replace them. They’ll get a few starts in cup games, but it’s more likely you’ll see them shipped out on loan. Also, the existing side is old. With Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger are all well past their prime, Mourinho will have to spend heavily to get a starting XI that he’s comfortable with.
- His style is usually boring. United was not exactly an exciting team to watch last year; they finished 10th in scoring, with just one more goal than nearly-relegated Sunderland. David Moyes played a long-ball style which was terrible, and while Van Gaal emphasized possession more, his players were often unable to do much with it. Mourinho plays on the counter. He can have his players play directly and I would expect more goals, but it’s not exactly a Pep Guardiola-esque free-flowing attack. His style was one of the major reasons United hesitated to hire him to begin with. One of his strengths is his tactical genius, but his style will not always, or maybe ever, please supporters.
- He is overbearing. United has already given Mourinho the final say on all transfers, which definitely will help relations, as they have already accepted this to begin with. It’s not just transfers with him, it’s preparations, warm-ups, even team doctors that he feels he needs to control. As a club, United just don’t have that kind of personality, and when he used this approach at Real Madrid they eventually threw him out.
Mourinho has a lot to prove at United. He has to prove that he hasn’t lost his tactical acumen and that he can manage a big club without annoying everyone within it. I thought a move to a national side would have been more logical for him (he would’ve made a great coach for Portugal), but he has always wanted the United job, so he had to take the opportunity. The squad needs major improvements, and Mourinho will be successful if he is allowed to bring in a number of superstars. He won’t trust youth, and if he is not immediately successful, he will start alienating people at the club. Club legend Ryan Giggs is already on his way out after Mourinho’s appointment. I don’t have a prediction for Manchester United’s season, mostly because summer transfers will shape their potential success. With Leicester, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all contending for the title next year, Mourinho has a very difficult job on his hands. I understand why United hired him – he is definitely the best coach available at this point in time. But at first glance, he doesn’t look like the right man for the job.
