Improving players performance is a direct and most important responsibility of a manager. Next couple of months will show whether our current struggles are temporary or our free-scoring form early in the season was just a bright patch. End of season 2 under Jose will tell lots of things. Most posters here are claiming that we are the second best team in the league now, they could be in for a surprise by the end of the season.
Mourinho : "Transfer spend is not enough"
- Thread starter Maradona10
- Start date
I'm not sure giving Mourinho more money is the answer. He spent 75m on Lukaku. Would have been prepared to spend 50m on 28-year-old journeyman Perisic. Already seems to have given up on Mkhitaryan.
Don't get me wrong, we do need reinforcements. But we can't keep splashing record money on players like Lukaku. We can keep saying that Guardiola already had Silva and De Bruyne but for 75m we got someone nowhere near their level.
Don't get me wrong, we do need reinforcements. But we can't keep splashing record money on players like Lukaku. We can keep saying that Guardiola already had Silva and De Bruyne but for 75m we got someone nowhere near their level.
Completely agree and summarises what I have been harping on about.
What about the 70 million he has wasted on Lindelof and Mhikitaryan. He doesn’t seem to want either of them now.
Lindelof is getting games and the fact that Mikhitaryan has flopped is costing us. Some transfers flop. Shit happens. Happened under Fergie too.
This should be your tagline
With the fecking goldfish memories on here it might as well be. Save me some typing.
Pep has also had transfer flops the difference is that he's moved them on swiftly
It may sound crazy but 300m aren't that much in the current market. Huge investments are needed to build a team capable of winning big trophies.
At Chelsea, Jose signed players for 700m in prices adjusted for inflation in football. At Madrid he had the most expensive squad in the world. At Inter he had the most expensive squad in Italy. He managed to stop Barca in the CL and then in La Liga with teams full with great players
Jose is good because it is very difficult to manage squads full with stars. But he needs stars, he ain't a miracle worker.
At Chelsea, Jose signed players for 700m in prices adjusted for inflation in football. At Madrid he had the most expensive squad in the world. At Inter he had the most expensive squad in Italy. He managed to stop Barca in the CL and then in La Liga with teams full with great players
Jose is good because it is very difficult to manage squads full with stars. But he needs stars, he ain't a miracle worker.
A lot of work in that post,well done,good read.
Lindelof will come good, he had to adapt but it starting to prove his worth. Micky was arguably the best player in Germany before he came here, at an age on which he should perform week in week out. It doesn't seem to work out, that happens. As people on here seem to compare us with City all the time. Has Bernardo Silva been a success? Nolito, Bravo, Bony, Mangala... that's 150 million € in 3 seasons on "wasted" players.
I want us to cut our losses and get rid now.
The bloke hasn’t got a clue how to beat City in a head to head, or over a 38 game league.
Get rid please.
The bloke hasn’t got a clue how to beat City in a head to head, or over a 38 game league.
Get rid please.
Who does really? I’d say Conte maybe. I know I have been tossing, heaping even lots of criticism on Jose for his lack of a real football identity outside of safety first football and his need to improve our offence before bitching about money, but given the right tools I wouldn’t have anyone else but Jose at the helm to go up against City in a 38 game marathon. We are a lot harder to beat than under Moyes and LVG because that fear factor has slowly returned. I might be doing Poch a disservice because I wouldn’t mind him coaching us. Klopp is proving to be too limited in his thinking despite the fact that he has gotten Liverpool playing good attacking football. Wenger will be Wenger.
Disclaimer, that is not to say that I don’t think we are anywhere near our potential. Jose needs to recognise that our offensive movement is woeful and well below acceptable standards for a team that has some of the best midfielders in Pogba and Matic, two talents in Martial and Rashford, a proven scorer like Rom, and players who thrive on movement and the creation of space like Lingard and Mhki. He needs to sort it out.
We need numbers not just spend the lot on 2/3 players. We have 2 wingers playing as full backs ffs.
Great post. Agree with all of it.
Mods: why aren't you polling the Caf?
Seems to me there are people who flat out want him gone, people who begrudgingly would give him till the end of the season, people who think there aren't better alternatives so we might as well make due, then those who think he's done a decent job and those who think he's done really well but needs serious backing by the board and look at lack of ambition and vision as the main problem.
Seems to me there are people who flat out want him gone, people who begrudgingly would give him till the end of the season, people who think there aren't better alternatives so we might as well make due, then those who think he's done a decent job and those who think he's done really well but needs serious backing by the board and look at lack of ambition and vision as the main problem.
Yeah, we need a poll.
I don't think Lindelof is a flop. He has taken time to settle, but as soon as he seems to be finding his feet he has been taken out again. I would have stuck with him.
I actually think the opposite of this. We have a very deep squad of okay players. Compare us to City (because no one has done that yet
) and it's the De Bruyne/Silva sort of players we are missing. Rashford and Martial's output hasn't been good enough and we lack a world class playmaker to play alongside Pogba.One goal/assist every three games? four games? Between the pair of them. Like I said, average?
Far from average and one has barely started his career but you shoehorn them all you want
That's pretty average for established players. It's great if they were 17-18 years old and starting to find their feet. One was a regular at Everton, the other a regular at Dortmund.
Lindelof has been average in the time he's been here.
I'm not saying they should be all be sold, but I'm just saying it as I see it. Mourinho hasn't been astute enough in the transfer market.
I couldnt disagree more about Lindelof the lad has a lot of potential and that should be obvious by now to most. Lukaku is clearly a goal scorer who is suffering a crusis in confidence. The only one Its hard to defend is Mkhi but he cant be described as an average talent.
A crisis in confidence that has led to Lukaku being almost generally invisible in the last 10 to 15 games apart from scoring the odd goal? That's a quarter of the season gone.
Is it just a goalscoring crisis or has he found the limit to his technical ability? It's still an open question. I, for one, am not impressed with his general game. I think he's an average footballer, and that's probably being kind.
Lindelof has had a couple of half decent games in the season to date, I wouldn't put that down as a success yet, he needs time for sure but doesn't as yet look much better than the youth defenders whos place he has taken..
Lukaku had a great goal scoring start so it is hard to blame lack of confidence for all his limitations, they were obvious even when he was scoring.
Miki is the big one, we needed him to be a creative success, he has failed. A talent not realised and a huge problem for the attacking potential of the team.
Bailly looks like he could be a top player, his form has been poorer this year.
Ibra was near done when we got him and fair play to him he managed to score well ( if not always play ) well last year.
I know criticism of Pogba is not popular but he has flattered to deceive for long spells over the last 2 seasons when judged by the potential he has. I would argue that Jose has not got anywhere close to the best out of him.
No arguing with Matic, although his form has peaked earlier in the season. You could argue from holding the rest of the team up for long periods.
So do we all trust Jose to spend another 300 million?
Trust doesn't come into it, there's no other option at the moment if there's any hope of consolidating "best of the rest", never mind actually catching City.
Sky actually put United with net spend more than City for 2017. Spurs and Arsenal need a clear spending shift to compete with City, Chelsea and United in the medium-term.
It's always interesting to talk about the market, the prices being paid and all that stuff, but bringing the matter after dropping points against Burnley at home, 10-men Leicester and losing against Bristol is nothing but a poor excuse, and a poor attempt of deflecting responsibilities.
If 300 M is nothing in modern football like some people suggest, then the difference of spending with City must be marginal too, and makes no difference in the end according to the same logic. I remember the debate here last year when Mou and Pep were appointed, and there was some consensum about them starting from a similar point. It's true that City had some advantage, but some people are now moving the goalposts dramatically.
I think it's ridiculous to include Sterling, Otamendi and some others in the reasons of Pep having a better starting point. These guys are perfoming very well not just because they're talented, but also because they're progressing individually under the manager and also getting the benefits from the collective improvement and team dynamics. Put Martial in that context and he would be flying too. The key here is on coaching, motivation and football aspects, not on heritages or X more money spent.
And Pep is far from perfect in my opinion, but the guy has tons of energy and got his team ultramotivated. He has a very clear (and ambitious) idea of football that is trying to develop, and by adopting that approach he's sending a positive message to his players, which reflects in terms of morale too. He's telling his players to go out and dominate, attack, and show their balls. His approach is 'We're the best. I believe in you. We can do it'.
Then you look at Mourinho and is the exact opposite right now, pure apathy and victimism. The man goes negative more often than not, even against mediocre teams when we try to keep an advantage. He throws players under the bus at the first opportunity (even in the first games of his first season, last year). We have a manager who openly flirts with PSG, and now seems to suggest that his squad is not good enough. It's impossible to send more negative messages to a group of players in a short time.
Two months ago Herrera said after the game against Huddersfield that the team was not motivated, and Mourinho responded with resignation something like "it's concerning, because if it happened today, it can happen tomorrow again". For me this was the proof that this man doesn't have any control of the emotions of his group and he's resigned to it.
Mourinho was praised in the past for his leading skills and how he connected with different groups of players, including big egos, lazy players or primadonnas, and got all them ready to go to war for him. All true. But now this kind of influence is nowhere to be seen. You can see the workhorses and some of his protected players giving it all, better or worse, but I'd say the group in general is not impressed or connected with the man in any way.
And this is just a personal feeling, but numbers (the ones in deep) make me raise an eyebrow too. If Whoscored is right, we are the 6th team with more shots per game behind the rest of big clubs. We are closer to Stoke (11th) than Spurs (4th).
And then in defence we are the 7th team with less shots conceded per game. And again we seem to be closer to some mediocre mid table teams than closer to the big ones.
I keep reading how the players are letting the manager down, and how Mourinho and his system are allowing us to score a lot of goals and be a solid team at the back. If any, it's this group of unmotivated (and poorly coached) players the ones that are saving our ass with good accuracy and solid goalkeeping, without a proper system backing them.
With all that said I think we need to keep Mourinho for this season and maybe the next one, depending on how it goes, but the board needs to start planning for the future now, and be brave and professional. Despite the points on the table or being second, there's something wrong in the air and I can hear the ticking bomb in deep, that will explode at some point sooner than later. Mourinho's been always a short term patch and it's more clear everyday.
After his tenure I think it's time to be related with more possitive and energic values for once, and as fans I believe we should push in that direction, to be our next step. If you think about it, the football in the last years with SAF was a bit meh. Since then we had to suffer Moyes, Van Gaal and a flacid Mourinho. I believe the goal is to be competitive and the style comes in the second place, but this time I'd try to be competitive through more modern and positive coaching.
Revitalizing the mood at Old Trafford and inside the dressing room it's very important if we want to be succesful, I believe. And getting the best out of our young exciting players and the rest to come. Pressing, movement, attacking intent, exciting talents expresing themselves. We need to aim higher and avoid that negative, victimist approach, playing at the expense of every half decent team, and crying about the market, referees, calendars and oligarchs. Manchester United, man, crying by the corners about everything while breaking transfer records and playing absolute garbage. I mean, c'mon.
If 300 M is nothing in modern football like some people suggest, then the difference of spending with City must be marginal too, and makes no difference in the end according to the same logic. I remember the debate here last year when Mou and Pep were appointed, and there was some consensum about them starting from a similar point. It's true that City had some advantage, but some people are now moving the goalposts dramatically.
I think it's ridiculous to include Sterling, Otamendi and some others in the reasons of Pep having a better starting point. These guys are perfoming very well not just because they're talented, but also because they're progressing individually under the manager and also getting the benefits from the collective improvement and team dynamics. Put Martial in that context and he would be flying too. The key here is on coaching, motivation and football aspects, not on heritages or X more money spent.
And Pep is far from perfect in my opinion, but the guy has tons of energy and got his team ultramotivated. He has a very clear (and ambitious) idea of football that is trying to develop, and by adopting that approach he's sending a positive message to his players, which reflects in terms of morale too. He's telling his players to go out and dominate, attack, and show their balls. His approach is 'We're the best. I believe in you. We can do it'.
Then you look at Mourinho and is the exact opposite right now, pure apathy and victimism. The man goes negative more often than not, even against mediocre teams when we try to keep an advantage. He throws players under the bus at the first opportunity (even in the first games of his first season, last year). We have a manager who openly flirts with PSG, and now seems to suggest that his squad is not good enough. It's impossible to send more negative messages to a group of players in a short time.
Two months ago Herrera said after the game against Huddersfield that the team was not motivated, and Mourinho responded with resignation something like "it's concerning, because if it happened today, it can happen tomorrow again". For me this was the proof that this man doesn't have any control of the emotions of his group and he's resigned to it.
Mourinho was praised in the past for his leading skills and how he connected with different groups of players, including big egos, lazy players or primadonnas, and got all them ready to go to war for him. All true. But now this kind of influence is nowhere to be seen. You can see the workhorses and some of his protected players giving it all, better or worse, but I'd say the group in general is not impressed or connected with the man in any way.
And this is just a personal feeling, but numbers (the ones in deep) make me raise an eyebrow too. If Whoscored is right, we are the 6th team with more shots per game behind the rest of big clubs. We are closer to Stoke (11th) than Spurs (4th).
And then in defence we are the 7th team with less shots conceded per game. And again we seem to be closer to some mediocre mid table teams than closer to the big ones.
I keep reading how the players are letting the manager down, and how Mourinho and his system are allowing us to score a lot of goals and be a solid team at the back. If any, it's this group of unmotivated (and poorly coached) players the ones that are saving our ass with good accuracy and solid goalkeeping, without a proper system backing them.
With all that said I think we need to keep Mourinho for this season and maybe the next one, depending on how it goes, but the board needs to start planning for the future now, and be brave and professional. Despite the points on the table or being second, there's something wrong in the air and I can hear the ticking bomb in deep, that will explode at some point sooner than later. Mourinho's been always a short term patch and it's more clear everyday.
After his tenure I think it's time to be related with more possitive and energic values for once, and as fans I believe we should push in that direction, to be our next step. If you think about it, the football in the last years with SAF was a bit meh. Since then we had to suffer Moyes, Van Gaal and a flacid Mourinho. I believe the goal is to be competitive and the style comes in the second place, but this time I'd try to be competitive through more modern and positive coaching.
Revitalizing the mood at Old Trafford and inside the dressing room it's very important if we want to be succesful, I believe. And getting the best out of our young exciting players and the rest to come. Pressing, movement, attacking intent, exciting talents expresing themselves. We need to aim higher and avoid that negative, victimist approach, playing at the expense of every half decent team, and crying about the market, referees, calendars and oligarchs. Manchester United, man, crying by the corners about everything while breaking transfer records and playing absolute garbage. I mean, c'mon.
I really do not think we have an option seeing that competition is fiercer than ever and City's winning run. I also think we need to relax a bit and put our faith in this manager we all know to be one of the very best in the game today. I don't remember the last time I was as pissed as I was after the first half vs Burnley and so I can relate with every fan that feels that way. However we must look beyond the present adversity and remember what our manager has come to be known for over the years in the world of football.
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Top quality post and some interesting statistical arguments to back it up. I'm not in the "sack Mourinho" brigade, but he needs to get his sh*t together if we are ever going to compete on the real top level again.It's always interesting to talk about the market, the prices being paid and all that stuff, but bringing the matter after dropping points against Burnley at home, 10-men Leicester and losing against Bristol is nothing but a poor excuse, and a poor attempt of deflecting responsibilities.
If 300 M is nothing in modern football like some people suggest, then the difference of spending with City must be marginal too, and makes no difference in the end according to the same logic. I remember the debate here last year when Mou and Pep were appointed, and there was some consensum about them starting from a similar point. It's true that City had some advantage, but some people are now moving the goalposts dramatically.
I think it's ridiculous to include Sterling, Otamendi and some others in the reasons of Pep having a better starting point. These guys are perfoming very well not just because they're talented, but also because they're progressing individually under the manager and also getting the benefits from the collective improvement and team dynamics. Put Martial in that context and he would be flying too. The key here is on coaching, motivation and football aspects, not on heritages or X more money spent.
And Pep is far from perfect in my opinion, but the guy has tons of energy and got his team ultramotivated. He has a very clear (and ambitious) idea of football that is trying to develop, and by adopting that approach he's sending a positive message to his players, which reflects in terms of morale too. He's telling his players to go out and dominate, attack, and show their balls. His approach is 'We're the best. I believe in you. We can do it'.
Then you look at Mourinho and is the exact opposite right now, pure apathy and victimism. The man goes negative more often than not, even against mediocre teams when we try to keep an advantage. He throws players under the bus at the first opportunity (even in the first games of his first season, last year). We have a manager who openly flirts with PSG, and now seems to suggest that his squad is not good enough. It's impossible to send more negative messages to a group of players in a short time.
Two months ago Herrera said after the game against Huddersfield that the team was not motivated, and Mourinho responded with resignation something like "it's concerning, because if it happened today, it can happen tomorrow again". For me this was the proof that this man doesn't have any control of the emotions of his group and he's resigned to it.
Mourinho was praised in the past for his leading skills and how he connected with different groups of players, including big egos, lazy players or primadonnas, and got all them ready to go to war for him. All true. But now this kind of influence is nowhere to be seen. You can see the workhorses and some of his protected players giving it all, better or worse, but I'd say the group in general is not impressed or connected with the man in any way.
And this is just a personal feeling, but numbers (the ones in deep) make me raise an eyebrow too. If Whoscored is right, we are the 6th team with more shots per game behind the rest of big clubs. We are closer to Stoke (11th) than Spurs (4th).
And then in defence we are the 7th team with less shots conceded per game. And again we seem to be closer to some mediocre mid table teams than closer to the big ones.
I keep reading how the players are letting the manager down, and how Mourinho and his system are allowing us to score a lot of goals and be a solid team at the back. If any, it's this group of unmotivated (and poorly coached) players the ones that are saving our ass with good accuracy and solid goalkeeping, without a proper system backing them.
With all that said I think we need to keep Mourinho for this season and maybe the next one, depending on how it goes, but the board needs to start planning for the future now, and be brave and professional. Despite the points on the table or being second, there's something wrong in the air and I can hear the ticking bomb in deep, that will explode at some point sooner than later. Mourinho's been always a short term patch and it's more clear everyday.
After his tenure I think it's time to be related with more possitive and energic values for once, and as fans I believe we should push in that direction, to be our next step. If you think about it, the football in the last years with SAF was a bit meh. Since then we had to suffer Moyes, Van Gaal and a flacid Mourinho. I believe the goal is to be competitive and the style comes in the second place, but this time I'd try to be competitive through more modern and positive coaching.
Revitalizing the mood at Old Trafford and inside the dressing room it's very important if we want to be succesful, I believe. And getting the best out of our young exciting players and the rest to come. Pressing, movement, attacking intent, exciting talents expresing themselves. We need to aim higher and avoid that negative, victimist approach, playing at the expense of every half decent team, and crying about the market, referees, calendars and oligarchs. Manchester United, man, crying by the corners about everything while breaking transfer records and playing absolute garbage. I mean, c'mon.
I seriously do not see us doing damage to any of the big teams in CL and we could face an embarrassment from some of them.
Shame that turn around was simply forgotten and the depression of the Caf came into full force. Excellent display and come back.
Lack of any faith in the manager or players is tedious on here, seeing a lot of post wanting Jose gone, yet not one credible replacement that we could attract is available, simply fickle stupidity of fans. Jose is building his team, yet we're supposed to throw that away and get a new manager in (lord know who) who will dispose of Lukaku, Fellaini, Ibra, Mikhi, Valencia, Jesse, Rashford, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Shaw and Young, then play attacking football better than city, so we can walk the league and please a lot of the people on here, as they know best. Dream on guys....
At the heart of all the problems is the transfer strategy. Mourinho has his targets, but we always seem to miss the diamonds in the rough like Kolasinac, Firmino, Goretzka, etc who appear to be talented and could have been bought uncontested or cheap from lesser clubs. When we had no midfield apart from Pogba, we didn't even attempt to contest Liverpool for Keita. And when we do sign these players from lesser teams, like Shaw, or Herrera, they turn out to be underwhelming.
Jose's targets are okay. But we need someone to help him, or our scouting network should undergo a revamp.
Jose's targets are okay. But we need someone to help him, or our scouting network should undergo a revamp.
Whilst I agree with most of your points I still can relate with the dissapointment and subsequent overreaction on here. Speaking for myself, a draw almost felt like a defeat. Having being used to winning all these years before Moyesiah, I thought this would be the year that feeling of invisibility would return.
Our early run raised my expectations I have to admit but I'm ever willing to wait till next summer to clear the dead wood and improve the quality of our team.
Don't get me wrong I was still pissed off at the end of 90 minutes but I could easily murder someone at the end of the 45
PS: I could hardly even hurt a fly
(how do you guys do this white text thingy?)I agree. Also , its the sort of thing he might start to say to deflect from criticism of him. It also makes me wonder whether he's already thinking of leaving and covering his back with the "it was the players and the club not spending enough" routine.
Its not all about stats, which I am sure even you can recognise. some of his numbers have gone up. So what? many of these contributions were from off the bench which may suggest he isn't as good a player as before Jose arrived. From starting matches, he has contributed a goal or assist in 5 games out of 17 starts. We don't need a supersub, we need the superstar in the making who terrorised all defences rotten.
You have said he is getting into better positions and defensive work has gone up. You must be basing the "gotten into better positions" bit on how you feel, since I know of few metric ways of measuring this.
Jose Mourinho expects Man United to spend big on players next summer
MANCHESTER -- Jose Mourinho expects Manchester United to invest heavily in new players next summer but he has warned it will still be "difficult" to compete with clubs who have "no limits."
Mourinho said this week the near £300 million he has spent as United manager is "not enough" to compete with runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City.
He is confident United will sign "two or three" new players in an effort to bridge the gap, including one -- potentially Antoine Griezmann or Gareth Bale -- who will cost "a lot of money."
But the 54-year-old does not expect to match the spending of City, or Paris Saint-Germain. It is a situation he accepts will make it hard for United to win the biggest trophies at home and abroad.
He told a news conference on Friday: "The club invested a lot of money, the problem is not the money we invest, the problem is the money that others invest and it is the problem that others with better squads, with better stability, with more options, they keep investing and that's the only problem.
"I think next season we are going to get two or three more players. We are going to lose also two or three.
"It's not going to happen a dramatic change and the dramatic improvement. But with time, step by step, with some balance, we have to do it.
"I think money makes a difference, but I ask you please never misinterpret my words against my club or say that my club doesn't support me or my club doesn't want to spend because my club spends.
"Two years ago [we] paid a lot of money for Paul [Pogba] and last year paid a lot of money for [Romelu] Lukaku.
"I am pretty sure that next year it is going to pay a lot of money for one player, but we are doing these things with some balance because it's the profile of the club. We do it with some balance.
"We are not that profile of club where there are no limits and the only thing that matters is to get the best."
To illustrate his point, Mourinho singled out Manchester City, who lead the Premier League by 15 points, and PSG, favourites to lift the Champions League, as the clubs who, unlike United, can "do what they want."
He added: "If you belong to one of these clubs where there is no limit, you just buy what you want and there is no limit, no Financial Fair Play, there is nothing.
"You do what you want or it's hard.
"Do you think this club can put here now £600m and let's buy six players of £100m? The club can't do that. I can't expect the club to do that.
"Without taking any credit from Manchester City and Pep [Guardiola] and his staff and the players, they have obviously lots of credit in what they are doing, but Pep arrived, he has the goalkeeper of England. He doesn't like him. He buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona. He doesn't like him. He buys another one. Now, he likes.
"He has Zabaleta and Kolarov, two very good players, but more than 30, he wants to replace, he doesn't do it with two. He does it with three. One from Tottenham, one from Monaco and one from Real Madrid, as an example.
"Can we buy six or seven players at the same time, can we invest £600m or £700m? No. No. So, it's difficult.
"What PSG did this season with Neymar and Mbappe, they got two of probably the best four attacking players in the world, they get two at the same time.
"And then players like Di Maria, Draxler, Lucas, Pastore, they are second choices, so you know, money makes a difference."
Mourinho, who revealed he is unlikely to buy in the January transfer window, has spent £286.3m on seven players since arriving at Old Trafford, including a world-record move for Pogba in 2016.
But the Portuguese coach hinted he has still not been able to significantly improve the quality of the squad.
He said: "For example, we bought a striker in the summer, a very good striker, but that good striker was to replace Zlatan [Ibrahimovic].
"We signed Lindelof, but we didn't have Rojo. We had problems, so when we are signing players in the last two years, it's to replace people.
"If next summer we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and he is a phenomenal player that this season couldn't give us nothing at all.
"He is in the end of his career, so if next summer we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad, it's to replace Michael Carrick, so to improve our squad in the midfield we would need to buy two."
Mourinho says that despite not having the spending power of City or PSG, United -- who boast an annual revenue of £515m, the highest in the world -- can still win the title and the Champions League. He insists, however, that the club need to be "patient."
He added: "I have the backing of the club and the first backing of the club that I had was a three-year contract, where everyone knows that the job was not easy. "And we all know that we invest a lot so when you invest as much as we did, it wouldn't be very fair for me to say the club didn't support.
"There is only one way which is patience and calm. And time.
"You have to believe in the work and in the time. And don't stop to invest, but some clubs they invest with limits and some clubs invest with a little bit more balance than others that go absolutely strong in the market.
"It's hard, so I think my boys, they are doing what they can. We could do better of course. We can always do better, but I am happy with what they try to give me.
"I think they are doing good work."
ESPN
MANCHESTER -- Jose Mourinho expects Manchester United to invest heavily in new players next summer but he has warned it will still be "difficult" to compete with clubs who have "no limits."
Mourinho said this week the near £300 million he has spent as United manager is "not enough" to compete with runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City.
He is confident United will sign "two or three" new players in an effort to bridge the gap, including one -- potentially Antoine Griezmann or Gareth Bale -- who will cost "a lot of money."
But the 54-year-old does not expect to match the spending of City, or Paris Saint-Germain. It is a situation he accepts will make it hard for United to win the biggest trophies at home and abroad.
He told a news conference on Friday: "The club invested a lot of money, the problem is not the money we invest, the problem is the money that others invest and it is the problem that others with better squads, with better stability, with more options, they keep investing and that's the only problem.
"I think next season we are going to get two or three more players. We are going to lose also two or three.
"It's not going to happen a dramatic change and the dramatic improvement. But with time, step by step, with some balance, we have to do it.
"I think money makes a difference, but I ask you please never misinterpret my words against my club or say that my club doesn't support me or my club doesn't want to spend because my club spends.
"Two years ago [we] paid a lot of money for Paul [Pogba] and last year paid a lot of money for [Romelu] Lukaku.
"I am pretty sure that next year it is going to pay a lot of money for one player, but we are doing these things with some balance because it's the profile of the club. We do it with some balance.
"We are not that profile of club where there are no limits and the only thing that matters is to get the best."
To illustrate his point, Mourinho singled out Manchester City, who lead the Premier League by 15 points, and PSG, favourites to lift the Champions League, as the clubs who, unlike United, can "do what they want."
He added: "If you belong to one of these clubs where there is no limit, you just buy what you want and there is no limit, no Financial Fair Play, there is nothing.
"You do what you want or it's hard.
"Do you think this club can put here now £600m and let's buy six players of £100m? The club can't do that. I can't expect the club to do that.
"Without taking any credit from Manchester City and Pep [Guardiola] and his staff and the players, they have obviously lots of credit in what they are doing, but Pep arrived, he has the goalkeeper of England. He doesn't like him. He buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona. He doesn't like him. He buys another one. Now, he likes.
"He has Zabaleta and Kolarov, two very good players, but more than 30, he wants to replace, he doesn't do it with two. He does it with three. One from Tottenham, one from Monaco and one from Real Madrid, as an example.
"Can we buy six or seven players at the same time, can we invest £600m or £700m? No. No. So, it's difficult.
"What PSG did this season with Neymar and Mbappe, they got two of probably the best four attacking players in the world, they get two at the same time.
"And then players like Di Maria, Draxler, Lucas, Pastore, they are second choices, so you know, money makes a difference."
Mourinho, who revealed he is unlikely to buy in the January transfer window, has spent £286.3m on seven players since arriving at Old Trafford, including a world-record move for Pogba in 2016.
But the Portuguese coach hinted he has still not been able to significantly improve the quality of the squad.
He said: "For example, we bought a striker in the summer, a very good striker, but that good striker was to replace Zlatan [Ibrahimovic].
"We signed Lindelof, but we didn't have Rojo. We had problems, so when we are signing players in the last two years, it's to replace people.
"If next summer we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and he is a phenomenal player that this season couldn't give us nothing at all.
"He is in the end of his career, so if next summer we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad, it's to replace Michael Carrick, so to improve our squad in the midfield we would need to buy two."
Mourinho says that despite not having the spending power of City or PSG, United -- who boast an annual revenue of £515m, the highest in the world -- can still win the title and the Champions League. He insists, however, that the club need to be "patient."
He added: "I have the backing of the club and the first backing of the club that I had was a three-year contract, where everyone knows that the job was not easy. "And we all know that we invest a lot so when you invest as much as we did, it wouldn't be very fair for me to say the club didn't support.
"There is only one way which is patience and calm. And time.
"You have to believe in the work and in the time. And don't stop to invest, but some clubs they invest with limits and some clubs invest with a little bit more balance than others that go absolutely strong in the market.
"It's hard, so I think my boys, they are doing what they can. We could do better of course. We can always do better, but I am happy with what they try to give me.
"I think they are doing good work."
ESPN
It a minefield of a discussion for him.
No we can't sign six players at once for £100 million each but them nobody else does either.
Getting a Carrick replacement won't upgrade the squad? Come on.
Lindelof doesn't count because Rojo was injured for the opening few months? Do no other clubs get injuries? One of the three fullbacks he mentioned City signing has been injured for majority of the season.
If he doesn't produce the goods all this stuff will sound pretty tragic.
No we can't sign six players at once for £100 million each but them nobody else does either.
Getting a Carrick replacement won't upgrade the squad? Come on.
Lindelof doesn't count because Rojo was injured for the opening few months? Do no other clubs get injuries? One of the three fullbacks he mentioned City signing has been injured for majority of the season.
If he doesn't produce the goods all this stuff will sound pretty tragic.
I don't understand how 300 million is not enough to beat teams Huddersfield, Leicester, Burnley and Stoke. Plus, Man Utd have performed defensively in all of the big games, except against Chelsea at the Bridge (First 15 - 30 mins) and Man utd been doing it under Mourinho with a very talented squad.
Imagine playing defensive/counter attacking football with the best teams and getting called a genius or the best manager in the world.
Imagine playing defensive/counter attacking football with the best teams and getting called a genius or the best manager in the world.
We might just have to accept that we will never have the same amount of spending power as PSG,City and Real.Whether that will make us competitive and win league titles and Champions leagues who knows.