The Mourinho Thread: Should he stay or go? | Sacked

[Smores]

The Sevilla debacle and his lack of respect for the club after meant he was on borrowed time.

We've started a fresh season and the team look to be continuing along that Sevilla tie trend in terms of our approach, meaning Jose is happy to continue approaching games that way, an approach that our fans are rightly not happy with.

His attitude in the summer was also horrendously negative and brought a black cloud over the club which has, again, continued into the season. Its not hard to see why fans would want him gone.

Mourinho has made everything a grind. Look at Poch for example, not a single signing and hasn't been able to spend the same as Mou but he doesn't bleat on about it to the degree that the fan base are negged out. His negative attitude is not befitting our club and the fact that history seems to be repeating itself leads me to feel that wanting him gone is somewhat reasonable position to have.

In short many fans decided to have hope and glass half full mentality and believe that 2nd was progress and that he'd change his approach... He hasn't and we are not only poor to watch but results aren't there either.

Not one of our games has been close to that Seville game in approach. If you can't see any differences on the pitch then that's a far bigger judgement on you than our manager.

Quality is a valid argument at the moment but no people have to talk bollocks made up nonsense instead

 

[RedFish]

Something needs to change and very fast.

Chelsea have a new coach, they are already playing good football and they seem to be in course of being in the top 4. Cater in the fact that they had managerial issue early in the season and it’s really impressive.

Then you have Sevilla, they look very good and they also have a new manager. The team is already clicking and it’s very easy to see the type of football the manager is implementing in the team. Imagine if it was us against that Real side, we would have been holding on for dear life the whole game.

I won’t talk about how boring we are to watch, but how is it possible that we are in our third season with Mourinho in charge and the team looks clueless, we don’t even have a stable first team and worse part the players that start most of our games are not even better than those who are in the bench.

We can’t keep forcing the situation hoping that one day it will click, by the time we get our act together we won’t only be chasing City but also Liverpool and most probably Chelsea as well.

I was hoping that Mourinho will be the manager who would take us back to the top, but it seems like that won’t happen. As a Manchester United fan I believe it’s time to cut ties with him.

He took us to second in his 2nd season, then Woodward said Hi.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Also had an easy a start as you could have hoped for.

It's the fact that some are accepting us battling for Top 4, that we are not far behind fourth place. What the hell! We should be challenging for the title. It really grinds my gears.

 

[Lentwood]

The mistake you are making is assuming a new manager has to come in and make us title winners instantly. What people are looking for someone to do is come in and do what Klopp has done at Liverpool. Implement a specific exciting style of football, keep a positive vibe around the club, not disrespect everyone in and around the club to the press and show improvement of not the likes of players you are referencing but the players in the squad with clear potential martial,pogba,Rashford,bailley, de gea, dalot,Shaw,fred etc.

A

Yeah but at the same time, if you use Klopp which is the example you gave, he has been at Liverpool for three years+ and won nothing.

Under Jose, we’ve won 2 1/2 trophies and finished 2nd last year behind a record-breaking side.

What makes you think people would be any more patient with Klopp? The media love-in would end the minute he walked through our doors and the pressure would be on from the start. Could he handle it? Not sure....always kind of played the plucky underdog role hasn’t he

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Something needs to change and very fast.

Chelsea have a new coach, they are already playing good football and they seem to be in course of being in the top 4. Cater in the fact that they had managerial issue early in the season and it’s really impressive.

Then you have Sevilla, they look very good and they also have a new manager. The team is already clicking and it’s very easy to see the type of football the manager is implementing in the team. Imagine if it was us against that Real side, we would have been holding on for dear life the whole game.

I won’t talk about how boring we are to watch, but how is it possible that we are in our third season with Mourinho in charge and the team looks clueless, we don’t even have a stable first team and worse part the players that start most of our games are not even better than those who are in the bench.

We can’t keep forcing the situation hoping that one day it will click, by the time we get our act together we won’t only be chasing City but also Liverpool and most probably Chelsea as well.

I was hoping that Mourinho will be the manager who would take us back to the top, but it seems like that won’t happen. As a Manchester United fan I believe it’s time to cut ties with him.

We are no nearer being a cohesive unit since the day SAF left. Other managers seem to come in and get their team functioning straight away, yet we are still thrashing about with no idea what the hell we are doing. Yet it is never Jose's fault. For goodness sake man show a bit of humility just for once.

 

[Dembeza]

He took us to second in his 2nd season, then Woodward said Hi.

Yes he did.

I didn’t want to talk about the transfers because I believe as a team we have the players to be playing better football than we are or winning games that we are actually losing or drawing.

Players come in into a system that has already been built to replace a player who isn’t performing at a particular role. We don’t currently have a system, the team is all over the place and it doesn’t matter who we sign because they will come in and struggle.

I look at the RW position and I still can’t figure what the RW is supposed to do in our system. In this team who are we supposed to sign as a RW and what role is he supposed to perform?

 

[Robbie Boy]

There’s a cluster of 4/5 of them that have some of the weakest arguments, constantly move the goalposts, and ignore any refuting done on their points and are oblivious to the majority opinion on matters such as the quality of our football. We constantly hear crap like “go support a different team”, “our football is good”, “2nd place and Europa League”, “improvement” because that’s all they can muster - weak, head-in-the-sand arguments. It’s a waste of time talking to these people.

Not to mention the 'how can you judge him on the 6 games we've played this season' gem.

 

[Bastian]

No - but do we consistently play good football either? No.

Our best run of performances happened at the start of last season where our 4-0 wins actually exaggerated the way we were playing.

The clubs that are better than us are playing football that completely strangulates the opposition - by taking possession away from them or by playing very high press football - the opposition are significantly on the back foot and weakened.

We on the other hand - even when we play well; willingly give the control of the game to the other side so we can sit back whilst they attack & just wait for the occasional moment to attack to catch them by surprise. We should attack attack said Pogba - there is absolutely nothing wrong about counterattack football; just for a club like United - that can't be your one and only tactics.

We were playing counterattacking football against both Derby & Wolves - it's just not right. Buying willian over messi is something only Jose would ever consider because he has such strict defensive and strict attacking tactics that it impairs a lot of players & that is historically proven.

Jose's type of Type B, counter attacking successful driven football is absolutely wonderful for clubs like Porto, Chelsea, Inter - who have spent years under the shadows of more dominant clubs & need to get their heads up; likewise it was okay for a whilst when Real Madrid were looking for a way to beat the might of Barcelona.
Ultimately it gets tiresome for big clubs to play like small clubs & it is not sustainable. It is absolutely rubbish for a team like United to willingly give prominence to clubs that come to old Trafford - as been said by many ex players now; no one is simply scared to come face us.

I can't remember us playing consistently over the years (pre-fiasco time, as in before SAF retired) in a way that strangled the opposition. The majority was fluid counter attacking football. There was a period that I really liked that had players like Anderson and Cleverley, Jones and Smalling, and we crushed teams with pressing high intensity football, but that lasted about 4-5 games at most.

I also don't think we've got the players to play a high pressing possession game at all. We should be somewhere in the middle, i.e. not exclusively counter attacking and not trying to be some high pressing machine either for which we do not have the right personnel.

The bit about Pogba being right, when you say that this style cannot be our only option, I totally agree. But it isn't. I've seen us play a variety of styles and tactics under Mourinho, even though he is safety first (not least when he's got a side he views as under-strength).

Mourinho is not faultless and he's come out quite a few times and said things that have compounded his own misery, but to win any game you need to match the other teams mentality as talent alone won't win you games.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Dunno about “special” but yes, the fact he chose to upload footage of himself giggling away during a grim night for the club (the only video he uploaded in the last 24 hours) is clearly on a different level to being filmed from afar by Sky cameras.

Just a really silly/childish/unprofessional thing to do. You can see why it would piss Mourinho off. Even without the recent shit in the press (which compounds the stupidity of Pogba’s decision to share that footage)

Pogba wasn't in the squad, he could have worn a clown suit and played pranks on the cloud for all I care.

At the end of the day

Yeah but at the same time, if you use Klopp which is the example you gave, he has been at Liverpool for three years+ and won nothing.

Under Jose, we’ve won 2 1/2 trophies and finished 2nd last year behind a record-breaking side.

What makes you think people would be any more patient with Klopp? The media love-in would end the minute he walked through our doors and the pressure would be on from the start. Could he handle it? Not sure....always kind of played the plucky underdog role hasn’t he

Because although Klopp hasn't "actually" won anything, they've shown steady improvement and are still exciting to watch. The fans enjoy watching the football so you're bound to be more patient.

Nobody enjoys Jose's football, so as soon as the results turn sour it's no surprise the fans AND players have turned.

 

[Dembeza]

We are no nearer being a cohesive unit since the day SAF left. Other managers seem to come in and get their team functioning straight away, yet we are still thrashing about with no idea what the hell we are doing. Yet it is never Jose's fault. For goodness sake man show a bit of humility just for once.

I’m not sure if this reply is meant for me because I’m actually agreeing with the top part of your post.

 

[mancan92]

Yeah but at the same time, if you use Klopp which is the example you gave, he has been at Liverpool for three years+ and won nothing.

Under Jose, we’ve won 2 1/2 trophies and finished 2nd last year behind a record-breaking side.

What makes you think people would be any more patient with Klopp? The media love-in would end the minute he walked through our doors and the pressure would be on from the start. Could he handle it? Not sure....always kind of played the plucky underdog role hasn’t he

It's like you didn't read my post. Klopp doesn't go around creating a media circus, he doesn't have a history of falling out with players, he doesn't disrespect the club,players and the fans in public and he aims to play exciting and entertaining football. If mourinho did these things you wouldn't see this outrage. Winning stuff like the Europa and league cup is never gonna be worth the level of nonsense Jose brings. That's the difference.

 

[VP89]

It's like you didn't read my post. Klopp doesn't go around creating a media circus, he doesn't have a history of falling out with players, he doesn't disrespect the club,players and the fans in public and he aims to play exciting and entertaining football. If mourinho did these things you wouldn't see this outrage. Winning stuff like the Europa and league cup is never gonna be worth the level of nonsense Jose brings. That's the difference.

How did Jose disrespect the club? Please point out the quotes that really hurt your feelings.because you're just arbitrarily saying a bunch of things for the sake of it.

Klopp has won feck all at Liverpool. I don't care how he comes across in interviews.

 

[Baxter]

How did Jose disrespect the club? Please point out the quotes that really hurt your feelings.because you're just arbitrarily saying a bunch of things for the sake of it.

Klopp has won feck all at Liverpool. I don't care how he comes across in interviews.

After the Sevilla performances then that pres conference, he should’ve been sacked after that.

More disrespectful than anything any players might have said or done, and by a fecking mile too.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

The board here is much like the dressing room. Split. To me, there is only one way to fix that...

 

[mancan92]

How did Jose disrespect the club? Please point out the quotes that really hurt your feelings.because you're just arbitrarily saying a bunch of things for the sake of it.

Klopp has won feck all at Liverpool. I don't care how he comes across in interviews.

Haha ok mate. He has leaked endless stories to the press about players, about moving to psg , not getting the money he wants and internal team discussions. Whilst also openly complaining at the fans support in stadiums, openly complaining about club officials, openly slamming players. He has openly and willingly thrown absolutely everyone under the bus instead of take some criticism himself. multiple times completely disregarding the club and acting like we are a low level club lucky to have him. All coming together in the historic heritage speech which was all aimed at making fun of the club and bigging up himself.

How in the world can you even ask How He has disrespected the club. The list is endless

 

[Quinzaine]

Quite sad that the rubbish we've been served since SAF has convinced fans that exciting football doesn't exist or is unrealistic. I'd like to think i speak for most that want Mourinho out when I say I'd simply like to watch football of a higher tempo with an actual attacking strategy, where the ball is played on the floor more often than not and see an increase in the number of vertical passes we play between the lines. If you truly think this is unrealistic then you're either completely deluded or don't watch enough football. Not everybody can play like City, but even Spurs and Arsenal being top clubs who have a squad better than the average in the league have a system in place where their centre backs build play up from the back and there's a certain level of dynamism in the forward areas. This is absolutely standard for any top club in modern football, and considering we've spent 400 million pounds under Mourinho it is mind boggling that some here think that the way in which we play our football can't be improved. If you think any top club in Europe resorts to bringing on a 6ft 5 wrecking ball and lumping it long to him whenever we need a goal past the 60th minute mark in the game then you're objectively wrong. If you don't think using that strategy against a championship team at home is embarrassing then that's up to you and that's fair enough. But please, enough of this false narrative that all of us that want Mourinho out are asking for some unrealistic mythical type of football week in week out because it's complete BS.

 

[Raees]

Do you think Derby are playing consistently better football than United? Were MK Franchise better than us just because they beat us in the cup under LVG?

Look at the context.. are Manchester United supposed to be proud that they're more effective at getting results than a Derby County? no. Should they at the bare minimum be playing a more cohesive style of play than Derby County - absolutely, it doesn't matter if you want to suck off Pep or if you're a results at all cost guy - we should at the bare minimum be looking more well put together than any given Championship side, let alone one managed by a complete rookie. I would say yes, Derby do consistently play better football (if we mean better-structured) and more easy on the eye than United - let alone comparing them to Bielsa's Leeds United.

If we're arguing are Derby a better team full stop i.e. in 10 matches, more likely to win more games than United - of course not, no one sane would argue that point.

 

[VP89]

Haha ok mate. He has leaked endless stories to the press about players, about moving to psg , not getting the money he wants and internal team discussions. Whilst also openly complaining at the fans support in stadiums, openly complaining about club officials, openly slamming players. He has openly and willingly thrown absolutely everyone under the bus instead of take some criticism himself. multiple times completely disregarding the club and acting like we are a low level club lucky to have him. All coming together in the historic heritage speech which was all aimed at making fun of the club and bigging up himself.

How in the world can you even ask How He has disrespected the club. The list is endless

OK. So you can't find anything he's actually said, then.

"leaking stories about PSG" is clutching at more straws than a masturbating strawman. He's actually praised our fans more often than otherwise.

You should remember when Klopp criticised Liverpool fans in his second season before you blindly point fingers to Jose.

 

[Bastian]

Look at the context.. are Manchester United supposed to be proud that they're more effective at getting results than a Derby County? no. Should they at the bare minimum be playing a more cohesive style of play than Derby County - absolutely, it doesn't matter if you want to suck off Pep or if you're a results at all cost guy - we should at the bare minimum be looking more well put together than any given Championship side, let alone one managed by a complete rookie. I would say yes, Derby do consistently play better football (if we mean better-structured) and more easy on the eye than United - let alone comparing them to Bielsa's Leeds United.

If we're arguing are Derby a better team full stop i.e. in 10 matches, more likely to win more games than United - of course not, no one sane would argue that point.

I think we could play them 10 times and win 9 out of 10. The team just wasn't focused. It's the worst passing game I've seen from us in many many months. While Derby had a front line that looked fluid and confident. It did take a world class free kick for them to level the score mind.

Do you think our style was unacceptable against Spurs, Burnley and Watford? Or Basel (given the surface)? I think that game was a nothing-to-lose situation for Derby while we have quite publicly documented problems in the dressing room. Not saying that's acceptable, but that's the context within which I view this. If you think Derby could play like this consistently against good teams we're on different pages. Same goes for Bielsa's Leeds (though I do think from what I've seen from them that their style is better than most Prem teams).

 

[mancan92]

OK. So you can't find anything he's actually said, then.

"leaking stories about PSG" is clutching at more straws than a masturbating strawman.

Lol mate I really cannot be bothered it as If you are doing everything to avoid it. I have given you examples type them into Google. Someone above just posted a video for you. There's endless articles and videos of Jose calling out players and the fans so don't really get what your saying.

Anyway there's no point going on with you. You don't want to accept anything

 

[Rash Decision]

Haha ok mate. He has leaked endless stories to the press about players, about moving to psg , not getting the money he wants and internal team discussions. Whilst also openly complaining at the fans support in stadiums, openly complaining about club officials, openly slamming players. He has openly and willingly thrown absolutely everyone under the bus instead of take some criticism himself. multiple times completely disregarding the club and acting like we are a low level club lucky to have him. All coming together in the historic heritage speech which was all aimed at making fun of the club and bigging up himself.

How in the world can you even ask How He has disrespected the club. The list is endless

Yep. And somehow there's more outrage over Pogba disrespecting Mourinho than over Mourinho disrespecting the entire club.

 

[JonDahl]

The number of people wanting him out in the summer were significantly less than now.

Well yes, obviously, because he’s been getting worse and worse. Are you expecting people’s opinions to never change, irrespective of what’s happening on the field (I know that’s what some of our deluded fan base is like)?

 

[Rash Decision]

Not to mention the 'how can you judge him on the 6 games we've played this season' gem.

One of the best arguments I've seen is that Mourinho deserves at least two more seasons because he wasn't backed in the transfer market this summer.

 

[Bola]

We had a positive run after the Brighton game and I even include the 3-0 defeat against Spurs where I thought we played well.

Last 2 games have been very poor and I'm unclear on the reason for the dip. Part of it seems to be player performances such as a tendency to good, poor finishing and a lack of running. How much of that is down to Jose or players is a matter of debate.

I'm still of the belief that Jose can turn it round, but I was discouraged with his team selection on Tues. Far too many chances given to underperforming players who have proved they will never be of the desired quality; Jones, Mata, Darmian and to some extent, Herrera fall into this category.

I'd much prefer to see youngsters given the chance as from a team perspective, youthful enthusiasm can be a great shot in the arm for the team. From a 'Jose In' perspective, it demonstrates someone who can recognise and attempt to fix past mistakes. By keeping on repeating them, I'm afraid he is following Einstein's rule of insanity of doing the same thing and expecting different results.

 

[RedRover]

I'm not convinced that Jose's history of "picking fights and alienating players" is down to him, rather than down to the clubs he was at. Chelsea and Madrid are known for allowing their players to communicate directly with the board, going over the manager's head with their gripes. It was never a big issue for him at Porto or Inter.

Having said that, perhaps there's an argument to be made for the Galactico approach after Mourinho goes. We've tried the sensible way, why not try the opposite? Let's sack managers after 6 months to a year and forget about giving them time. Let the star players have the sway that they seem to want. Fergie would certainly not approve, and it's not "The Utd Way" but it doesn't seem to have harmed Madrid and Chelsea's success rate over the past decade. Win the league or CL in your first season, or come mighty close, or you're out the door. Instead of spending 5 years giving 2 good managers 2-3 years each to see if they work out, why not try the chance of 5-6 good managers over the same period until one of them hits the ground running. Obviously using this model, City would have ditched Pep after his first season, but hey-ho, we don't have a great deal to lose at the moment and a lot to gain.

The point for me is that when he's in a tough position, he looks for more conflict - and to be honest, not even always with his players. When results were poor at Chelsea, rather than confront that, he started on the Physio - which was ludicrous. What did he hope to achieve by that? You could also say that the difference with Inter and Porto is that he left on good terms - its when the wheels come off that he has a problem.

The Pogba situation is another example and I personally don't understand how it helps the team. The situation is becoming toxic.

 

[In Rainbows]

OK. So you can't find anything he's actually said, then.

"leaking stories about PSG" is clutching at more straws than a masturbating strawman. He's actually praised our fans more often than otherwise.

You should remember when Klopp criticised Liverpool fans in his second season before you blindly point fingers to Jose.

You literally just ignored a video of what he said.

 

[RedSky]

Since the start of 2018 in the PL:
23 games played
34 goals scored
21 goals conceded
13 goal difference
15 wins
2 draws
6 losses
47 points from a possible 69

Top Goal Scorers:
10 - Lukaku
5 - Pogba
4 - Smalling
3 - Martial
3 - Rashford

Not exactly good. To put it into perspective, Bournemouth (35), Leicester (36), Chelsea (37), Tottenham (47), Arsenal (48), Liverpool (50) and City (64) have all scored more goals in the same period. City with almost double. Having said all that, we're still doing well in defense, only Liverpool and City have better stats. We've also got the 4th highest points total in 2018, but ultimately when you're scoring so few goals then when your defense does find bad form you'll start to struggle. Personally I think it's unforgivable that in 23 games, Smalling is our 3rd highest goal scorer on 4 goals (good for Smalling) but should never happen at United.

 

[Mourinhonista]

A bit of fresh air in here, otherwise the public opinion is that Mourinho has to be sacked immediately, that alone is ok, but not all the time, adds nothing new to the debate. Saying it's 100% certain that from now on it will only get worse, is getting on my nerves.

There should be much more discussion with the emphasis on what is the coaching staff currently up to?! Will we try a new formation, will we stay higher up the pitch, will we see 'new' players coming in and so on.

Personally i think there will be some changes made. I'd expect Rashford to get back in the lineup after his suspension. Hopefully we continue with Dalout and also with Fred. I like Pogba, but he could behave a lot better, maybe he needs to be dropped for a few games and taught a lesson.

 

[Raees]

Unless you want to hire Lampard I'm unsure of your point? Inexperienced hires are irrelevant.

It's about those that can play to the entertainment standard demanded whilst still being successful at the top level.

Poch, Simeone, Allegri, Zidane are all below the Liverpool and City level our fans are demanding and we'd end up with the same arguments in a year.

I agree with you that those four managers are a step below on the entertainment ladder. I would argue Zidane and Poch scrape over the line in that they're slightly more attack-minded than pure pragmatism. That said, a strong proportion of the fan base would accept less than top tier entertainment as long as results are solid.

Contrary to belief, I don't think our fanbase is that 'spoilt' it is just they've had a tonne of shit to deal with post-Fergie and what with us aspiring to be a top 3 club in the world on and off the pitch, standards have to be pretty high in order to maintain that otherwise you become a has-been club and endure many years in the wilderness.

I think as long as we are attacking at home, and at bare minimum offer a counter-attacking threat away from home and the team looks well-structured, it plays with a plan and the team looks well-coached.. fans will be happy. I also think having a non toxic manager who doesn't shit on the club and shows the fans/club respect without resorting to media manipulation and mind games will do a world of good in terms of lifting the doom and gloom around this place.

Personally I think because we are so far behind other sides in terms of how we operate as a unit, and how dysfunctional we look in terms of the 'eye-test', we need to sacrifice the results first mentality (which incidentally is not yielding any results of note) and focus on developing a very attacking and modern style of play, so that we are laying down the foundations for future success and keeping the fans onside too.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Haha ok mate. He has leaked endless stories to the press about players, about moving to psg , not getting the money he wants and internal team discussions. Whilst also openly complaining at the fans support in stadiums, openly complaining about club officials, openly slamming players. He has openly and willingly thrown absolutely everyone under the bus instead of take some criticism himself. multiple times completely disregarding the club and acting like we are a low level club lucky to have him. All coming together in the historic heritage speech which was all aimed at making fun of the club and bigging up himself.

How in the world can you even ask How He has disrespected the club. The list is endless

 

[Schneckerl]

OK. So you can't find anything he's actually said, then.

"That is not the end of the world. I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and I knock Man United out at home at Old Trafford," he told reporters.

"I sit in this chair with Porto, Man United out, I sit in this chair with Real Madrid, Man United out. So is not something new for the club and of course being Manchester United manager and losing a Champions League tie at home is a disappointment, obviously."

 

[In Rainbows]

"That is not the end of the world. I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and I knock Man United out at home at Old Trafford," he told reporters.

"I sit in this chair with Porto, Man United out, I sit in this chair with Real Madrid, Man United out. So is not something new for the club and of course being Manchester United manager and losing a Champions League tie at home is a disappointment, obviously."

"The other day my son who lives in London went to Paris and not to Manchester to watch the match," Mourinho said. "At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth, it’s fantastic."

 

[mancan92]

"That is not the end of the world. I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and I knock Man United out at home at Old Trafford," he told reporters.

"I sit in this chair with Porto, Man United out, I sit in this chair with Real Madrid, Man United out. So is not something new for the club and of course being Manchester United manager and losing a Champions League tie at home is a disappointment, obviously."

the thing is the quotes are endless there's so many

 

[Cassidy]

"That is not the end of the world. I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and I knock Man United out at home at Old Trafford," he told reporters.

"I sit in this chair with Porto, Man United out, I sit in this chair with Real Madrid, Man United out. So is not something new for the club and of course being Manchester United manager and losing a Champions League tie at home is a disappointment, obviously."

Direspect

 

[Cassidy]

"The other day my son who lives in London went to Paris and not to Manchester to watch the match," Mourinho said. "At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth, it’s fantastic."

I forgot about this one, the guy is a cretin

 

[Raees]

I think we could play them 10 times and win 9 out of 10. The team just wasn't focused. It's the worst passing game I've seen from us in many many months. While Derby had a front line that looked fluid and confident. It did take a world class free kick for them to level the score mind.

Do you think our style was unacceptable against Spurs, Burnley and Watford? Or Basel (given the surface)? I think that game was a nothing-to-lose situation for Derby while we have quite publicly documented problems in the dressing room. Not saying that's acceptable, but that's the context within which I view this. If you think Derby could play like this consistently against good teams we're on different pages. Same goes for Bielsa's Leeds (though I do think from what I've seen from them that their style is better than most Prem teams).

I think if we are talking United this season, that is very optimistic. I would say if it is 10 games (5 home, 5 away).. we would win 5/6 at most, and lose a couple and draw a couple - which is not title winning form (against a side which should be relegation fodder).

Spurs was not as great a performance as people made out. The first half, we played without a handbrake, and it was just reckless.. everyone just playing with high level of intensity with the manager having made a compromise (realizing morale in the camp was at an all time low) to let the players off the leash. It wasn't particularly well-thought out and once Spurs got a handle of the game, they tore us to shreds in the second half as positionally, we lacked a game plan and were at sixes and sevens without the ball.

Both in the Burnley and Watford games, there was patches of some good play where there seemed to be a structure but it wasn't for the full 90 minutes. There was large periods in both games where we looked clueless and relied on an element of fortune to not let the result escape our grasp. Either way, admittedly it looked that maybe there was some sign that the team was finally being 'coached'. The true litmus test for this, was to see if when we have a game which isn't quite going our way results wise, whether we would stay true to the ''new' approach or whether we'd resort to very direct hoof-ball and lo and behold, as soon as Wolves equalized.. we just played exactly like we have since last season and the first few games of this.. brainless football, with no craft or guile.

Even if the likes of Carrick and McKenna, do have the coaching credentials to instill some identity into this team.. we have a manager who as soon as results don't quite go to plan, will tear the plan up, and post-match blame players for any dropped points. He lacks the patience to 'coach' this team back onto its feet.. he wants 'results' instantaneously and will reject any notion that he is a key barrier to getting those results.

 

[Bastian]

A bit of fresh air in here, otherwise the public opinion is that Mourinho has to be sacked immediately, that alone is ok, but not all the time, adds nothing new to the debate. Saying it's 100% certain that from now on it will only get worse, is getting on my nerves.

There should be much more discussion with the emphasis on what is the coaching staff currently up to?! Will we try a new formation, will we stay higher up the pitch, will we see 'new' players coming in and so on.

Personally i think there will be some changes made. I'd expect Rashford to get back in the lineup after his suspension. Hopefully we continue with Dalout and also with Fred. I like Pogba, but he could behave a lot better, maybe he needs to be dropped for a few games and taught a lesson.

I think it would make most sense to drop Pogba until he starts respecting the manager. Short-term it might be tricky, but long-term it is the only way to go IMV. Now if that happens, we could go to a 352 which probably suits our personnel better. With Shaw and hopefully Dalot providing the width. The biggest problem with that is which 3 centre backs to go for, because we'd really do need one who is capable on the ball.

---------------de Gea
------Bailly--Smalling--Lindelof
Dalot--------------------------Shaw
-------Fred---Matic---Pereira
-----Lukaku/Rash---Martial/Sanchez

@RedSky
That coincides with the Sanchez signing

 

[Greck]

"The other day my son who lives in London went to Paris and not to Manchester to watch the match," Mourinho said. "At the moment in Paris there is something special. Magic, quality, youth, it’s fantastic."

Said he was sure he wouldnt retire here when he wanted a new contract, Also had a go at the fans for urging Mctominay to make a brave pass one game, had a go at the fans for groaning at Lukaku for getting lazy against Tottenham at OT, made a smartass comment in his postmatch notes sarcastically addressing the fans asking for entertaining football. He's an insufferable dick.

 

[Linkincelt]

All Mourinho has brought to the club this season is distraction. Pogba played very well this summer in the World Cup and has proven himself with Juventus where there was never any problems with him (unlike Mourinho's past) . Even for United this season he is one of our best players. Ever since being knocked out of The CL by Seivlle and his big speech about history and heritage ( looking rather like Keegan's Love It speech), His throwing players under the bus in the media and about how great he is.

Now while knowing the cameras on him he start's on Pogba again. He is turning the club into what we used to laugh at Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea with all their problems. More people are looking at Mourinho's interview than the matches as they are more entertaining that the football.

 

[RedSky]

I think it would make most sense to drop Pogba until he starts respecting the manager. Short-term it might be tricky, but long-term it is the only way to go IMV. Now if that happens, we could go to a 352 which probably suits our personnel better. With Shaw and hopefully Dalot providing the width. The biggest problem with that is which 3 centre backs to go for, because we'd really do need one who is capable on the ball.

---------------de Gea
------Bailly--Smalling--Lindelof
Dalot--------------------------Shaw
-------Fred---Matic---Pereira
-----Lukaku/Rash---Martial/Sanchez

@RedSky
That coincides with the Sanchez signing

Also, pretty sure that's when Jose got his extension. But yeah, it all fell apart around January.