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There has been a tidal wave of criticism against Jose Mourinho following Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford to fifth place La Liga side Sevilla with much of this criticism coming from pundits who claim that Mourinho’s style of football is “boring”.
Could United be doing better? Absolutely. Did they play badly against Sevila? Of course. Should the Glazers consider sacking Mourinho?
Absolutely not.
The line-up that Manchester United used was not a line-up that screamed “park the bus” despite the inclusion of Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic. Alexis Sanchez, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku all started.
However, at the end of the day, these players simply failed to perform when their manager needed them most. Because of this, the media automatically places the blame on Mourinho’s shoulders rather than the players because it is easier to blame one man than an entire squad that failed to perform.
These players have shown that they have the skill to finish. We saw this against Chelsea at Old Trafford and Liverpool a few days before the Champions League game, when United were praised for their approaches in both of these games, despite losing the battle of possession convincingly.
Where those games “boring”? No. Ask any Manchester United fan and they would have enjoyed both of those games.
It becomes boring when results are no longer acheived. It was referred to as a “tactical masterclass” by the media on Monday against Liverpool, but then the same counter-attacking approach was deemed to be a relic of the past the day after, both by fans and the media.
No manager in world football has polarized supporters more than Mourinho, however those that are calling for his head have never managed gigantic football clubs on the level of Manchester United.
Graeme Souness, an ex-Liverpool player, has been one of the most vocal of Mourinho’s critics. While it is his job to criticise managers and offer suggestions, for the most part, they are to be taken with a grain of salt, not because of the obvious bias against Manchester United from his Liverpool playing days, but because his last managerial job was in 2006 for Newcastle United where they were almost relegated.
If these pundits have all the answers, as they claim on Sky, BT Sport and even our own Fox Sports, the age-old question must be asked, why are they not doing it themselves?
It is the same with ‘supporters’ on social media. A quick glance at the Facebook comments on anything to do with Mourinho on Manchester United’s news feed is filled with comments such as “Moaninho out” and “Buschester United (sic)”.
These supporters would do even worse than Souness did at Newcastle if they were to ever manage a club in the Championship, let alone a big club such as Manchester United.
Am I saying that these supporters should not have an opinion on how the club plays, its manager or transfer business? Well, that would be quite hypocritical of me, so no.
But I am calling for more context when it comes to these opinions, for people to do their research before making such claims. As the saying goes, you are not entitled to your opinion, you are entitled to your own informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.
Manchester United, as Mourinho pointed out in his press conference before Brighton, have done very little in Europe since 2011. In contrast, Sevilla had won three Europa league titles in a row.
Yes, United have spent money, but what major club in the Champions League hasn’t? Paris Saint-Germain have been bankrolled by Qatar Sports Investments and signed Neymar for a record fee yet that does not automatically guarantee success in Europe.
Manchester City had been preparing for Pep Guardiola’s arrival long before he arrived in 2016. Some of the best players in the City team, Kevin De Bryune and Sergio Aguero were not bought by Guardiola, as it takes time and significant money to turn a somewhat average side to Champions League contenders.
Manchester United have the money to succeed but after dismissing David Moyes after ten months and Louis van Gaal after two seasons, stability has not been present at the club.
That is not to say we need to give every manager a ten-year contract. If the signs are there that the team is not performing or is going backwards, then the fans and pundits are right to ask questions. David Moyes’ tenure was terrible and Louis van Gaal’s style of football was even worse than Mourinho’s without the results.
Mourinho’s Manchester United, however, have improved. Since finishing fifth in 2015-16, they’ve won the Europa League and the League Cup. Yes, United also finished sixth in the league but there were signs that the team was improving.
This season, if Manchester City had not been playing so well, United would have been one of the favourites for the Premier League title. United are also set to finish with their most points in the league since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
There has been a success in the transfer market, at least more than van Gaal; Eric Bailly, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic before his injury.
Yes there have also been failures, but the impact of those are somewhat minor compared to the impacts of other signings in the van Gaal era, most noticeably Angel Di Maria.
Paul Pogba is undergoing a period of bad form at the moment, but he is by all means not a bad signing. Sanchez has only just signed so it is ridiculous to judge him right now.
The graduates at Manchester United have been superb. Lingard is playing some of the best football of his career, Rashford has also had a decent season and Scott McTominay should develop into a brilliant player in the future.
The next season is pivotal for Manchester United, however, Mourinho has never lasted more than three seasons at any club. He will either exceed expectations at United by finishing the season with a title or he will cause a brilliant collapse.
Time is the thing that the Mourinho needs, he must be given this time because out of all of the managers in world football he is the one that most closely resembles Alex Ferguson in terms of philosophy – that is, to win at all cost.
The names that were thrown in the wind upon the sacking of Louis van Gaal – Ryan Giggs, Carlo Ancelotti and Mauricio Pochettino – have not had the same success that Mourinho has had. Mourinho fits the personality required to succeed at United, with his arrogance and a firm belief in his squad.
Like him or loathe him, Jose Mourinho is the only one for United.
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