What next for Mourinho?



"This generation is different" has been said for how many years now ? It's only about 7 years since Fergie stated the following:

"Players these days have lived more sheltered lives, so they are much more fragile now than 25 years ago," said Ferguson, who began life in management with East Stirlingshire in 1974.

"I was very aggressive all those years ago. I am passionate and want to win all the time. But today I'm more mellowed – age does that to you. And I can better handle those more fragile players now."


Again and again he'd state the importance of adapting, learning how to handle different individuals, accepting that things change and you either adapt or you lose.

Mourinho wasn't the only one managing a new generation of players, individuals that are growing up in a time where being on social media is critical to their income, he just failed to adapt.
 
I'm struggling to understand why you are so hell bent on pushing a narrative that is simply not true, at all. If a manager falls out with one player while the rest are performing and the team is performing well, there's no issue whatsoever, the player in question will receive little or no support from the rest of the squad as he's the one behaving badly, the club will also be more than happy to sell him to prevent him from disrupting the rest of the squad. If the manager falls out with the majority of the squad and the team is not performing either (they usually go hand in hand..), then it's pretty clear that the reasons are slightly more complicated than "player power", and it's also pretty clear that the end result will always be that the manager has to go, no club no matter what structure they have is going to replace the majority of the squad.

Ancelotti is a great manager, but he was the wrong choice after someone like Guardiola, the Bayern players were used to a certain approach and Ancelotti was the exact opposite. Had nothing to do with him being a gentleman, his methods simply didn't work. He didn't fall out with one player, two players, he fell out with the squad over training methods and his approach to matches. Guardiola has had issues with individual players, never an entire squad, that's the major difference. How many Barcelona players were against the departure of Zlatan, Etoo, how many City players were going up against Guardiola to defend Yaya Toure ? Comparing this to Mourinho's history is an insult.

Furthermore, the desire to rewrite history in order to defend Mourinho is borderline absurd. You're arguing for a model that Mourinho dislikes, he was strongly against a DOF at Manchester United and he had a power struggle with Valdano at Real Madrid which resulted in the latter getting sacked, with Perez stating the following "The experience of the season just ended has shown the need for new organisation at the club, giving autonomy to our coach". Yet you expect us to jump on your claim that it's our structure that's the problem ? if we had a DOF during Mourinho's 2,5 seasons he would've been in a power struggle with the poor bugger from day one over which players to sign and which players to get rid of.

Like the majority i do agree that we should restructure the club and opt for a director of football, but pretending that our current structure, the same that Fergie worked with, is the major issue is insane.


You are just so wrong. I don't rewrite history. You might want to check out my posts. What you responded to was within a context. EVERYBODY knows that Jose's level of dressing room disruptiveness probably has no rival. I like him but I have not lost my senses enough to deny that. To say that will be attempting to re-write history. My point was that any manager can have player issues in a very general term and unless the club has a structure to cater for that especially in these days of player power, there will be trouble. At times I feel some of those who dislike Jose are actually the ones who let the dislike cloud their reasoning as much as those who excessively support him to the detriment of reason.

About the part I emboldened. I am happy you agree we need a DoF. That's the kind of fundamental restructuring we are talking about. Having said that, wake up my friend. Fergie era is gone. Fergie was one of the last of a 'dead' breed of managers who worked within a structure that empowered them far more than any super star player. In fact, I think Fergie created that structure with his unmatchable talent as a manager and his incredible success rate. Fergie became the law, if I may express it that way. Forget for a second whether or not Fergie would have handled Pogba like Jose did. For whatever reason, if Pogba had behaved the way he did with Jose under Fergie, would he have remained in the club? No way. On the other hand, move the Fergie - Beckham saga to this era. What would the modern fan have said now if that had happened? The basic point is that times have changed. Jose may be a prick but he was bang right on that.
 
Saying Mourinho meant a DoF by 'structure' is either classic doublespeak or Neville Chamberlain level of naivety. He actively ruled against working with a DoF ffs, managed to kick even Valdano out of Madrid.

I’m 99.9% sure that nobody on the Caf has a clue what a DoF does, or how one would practically function at the club... but our lack of one makes a brilliant catch all excuse in almost any circumstance, tbf.

As you say, Jose has had previous high profile problems with DoFs before, or indeed with anyone with power above him to purchase players (Shevchenko & Ballack, anyone?) and by all accounts always coveted the United job so highly in part because it was the last elite side ruled by an all powerful God-King....

...but apparently his failures here are entirely due to the lack of such a position?... A position with the power to assert control over the game’s most prominent narcissist?... Come the-figgidy-feck-again now!?
 
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You are just so wrong. I don't rewrite history. You might want to check out my posts. What you responded to was within a context. EVERYBODY knows that Jose's level of dressing room disruptiveness probably has no rival. I like him but I have not lost my senses enough to deny that. To say that will be attempting to re-write history. My point was that any manager can have player issues in a very general term and unless the club has a structure to cater for that especially in these days of player power, there will be trouble. At times I feel some of those who dislike Jose are actually the ones who let the dislike cloud their reasoning as much as those who excessively support him to the detriment of reason.


No, there won't be, not unless the manager somehow manages to fall out with the entire squad. Falling out with individuals as long as the majority of the players are happy is no problem whatsoever. You're pretending this is a major issue, but yet there's no comparisons that are valid. Did Guardiola get the sack at Barcelona for shifting out Eto'o and Ronaldinho ? falling out with Zlatan ? did he get the sack at Bayern for falling out with individuals, what about at City ? Nah. There's nothing viable to suggest that player problem has anything to do whatsoever with Mourinho getting sacked.

About the part I emboldened. I am happy you agree we need a DoF. That's the kind of fundamental restructuring we are talking about. Having said that, wake up my friend. Fergie era is gone. Fergie was one of the last of a 'dead' breed of managers who worked within a structure that empowered them far more than any super star player. In fact, I think Fergie created that structure with his unmatchable talent as a manager and his incredible success rate. Fergie became the law, if I may express it that way. Forget for a second whether or not Fergie would have handled Pogba like Jose did. For whatever reason, if Pogba had behaved the way he did with Jose under Fergie, would he have remained in the club? No way. On the other hand, move the Fergie - Beckham saga to this era. What would the modern fan have said now if that had happened? The basic point is that times have changed. Jose may be a prick but he was bang right on that.

Mourinho worked within the same structure, a structure that empowered him far more than any superstar player. The problem was how he used that power, how he fell out with the majority of the squad. Fergie admitted on several occasions that he had to change his approach, it's called adapting.
 
Great coach when everything aligns (a.k.a $$$). Terrible in the long term & bad at adapting to the situation/players around him.

The whole DOF thing is nonsense regarding Mourinho. He was given far more autonomy because of it. Not getting the best out of the players you chose is your own fault.

The reality is pragmatic football doesn't work anymore because everyone uses it to a certain extent with data analytics. While he had the edge 3+ yrs ago, everyone is doing what he's doing now. The issue is the EPL is far more talented where mistakes your own players make, which are bound to happen, are penalized with conceding a goal. So the defensive pragmatic style he uses isn't very advantageous. Combine that with a negative pressure based management style which doesn't work with the younger generation & you have the implosion you see in Mourinho.

Got to adapt & reinvent yourself. Pragmatic football can still work, but refine it. Scale your risk against the weaker sides by playing more expansively against weaker opposition & play to your opponents weaknesses against the better ones. I think he tried to do this, but didn't execute it well because he was afraid. To drive change you have to take risk & be willing to lose.
 
Be interesting to see the Jose loyalist’s reaction when he turns up to OT with an Italian team and steals a 1-0 win. He’ll soon be hushing and gesturing to the United fans. It’s inevitable. They’d probably still defend him mind you. Sour sour man.
 
I’m 99.9% sure that nobody on the Caf has a clue what a DoF does, or how one would practically function at the club... but our lack of one makes a brilliant catch all excuse in almost any circumstance, tbf.

As you say, Jose has had previous high profile problems with DoFs before, or indeed with anyone with power above him to purchase players (Shevchenko & Ballack, anyone?) and by all accounts always coveted the United job so highly in part because it was the last elite side ruled by an all powerful God-King....

...but apparently his failures here are entirely due to the lack of such a position?... A position with the power to assert control over the game’s most prominent narcissist?... Come the-figgidy-feck-again now!?

Its a good point. On the subject of what a DoF does, its also another good point because each club may define it in a different way.
 
Just read an article on his BEin sports appearance.

The man's proper confused in his old age. He hasn't a clue if he wants to be a head coach or manager. He's lost.

If he wants to be head coach, he cannot complain about transfers.

If he wants to be a manager, he'll have to take all the responsibility and that includes discipline.

The job Mourinho seems to want does not exist.
 
Be interesting to see the Jose loyalist’s reaction when he turns up to OT with an Italian team and steals a 1-0 win. He’ll soon be hushing and gesturing to the United fans. It’s inevitable. They’d probably still defend him mind you. Sour sour man.
Pretty sure that won't happen. Our players will be fired up like never before.
 
He's kinda burning bridges with those comments. I'd hoped to see him take some responsibility for what was quite clearly a trainwreck of a season but he's still shifting blame away to other entities. Blaming the club structure and professionalism/maturity of your players again, jeez.

He might be a great manager, but he was never the right fit for us. I'm glad we let him go.
 
Of course he is taking a dig at Ed. And why shouldn't he? For me, the point is clear: football has changed. The days of Sir Alex having full and complete complete are gone. The days of managers being the masters are gone. It's the social media world now. The super star footballer is king. He is no longer worth 10 million pounds. He is now worth 200 million pounds and his brand is powerful. We can hate Jose all he wants but we will do well to restructure the club. If a manager cannot have absolute authority to discipline, then there should be a club structure that helps to keep the checks and balances. How is this hard to understand?

While the issue of checks and balances is very valid, it is quite obviously an excuse in this case. Jose wasn't fired because he couldn't discipline his players, he was fired because he had the entire team playing shit football, kept losing games, spread his negativity at every press conference, belittled the club, alienated most of his best players and kept finding excuses instead of actually trying to fix things.

Also, the club has recently backed the manager over a high profile CL winning player when they believe it's the player's attitude which is a problem - Di Maria.
 
Typical comments deflecting the blame elsewhere. There's other managers doing better jobs at other clubs that are ran similarly with similar quality players. I don't expect him to say, "I'm shit", but he could have some accountability and it would work well for him moving forward instead of trying to adapt to the times he's asking the times to adapt to him with no compromise.
 
That's not exactly difficult, is it?

A handful of games is relatively easy. Let's talk about dominating the league again. We will need a DoF or give Ole, Poch or whoever, Sir Alex's kind of power.

Was difficult for Jose. Impossible even given how he kept moaning. Maybe winning a title won't be that difficult either once the manager isn't a past it egomaniac
 
Are we really surprised he's not taking any blame for the situation?
 
Be interesting to see the Jose loyalist’s reaction when he turns up to OT with an Italian team and steals a 1-0 win. He’ll soon be hushing and gesturing to the United fans. It’s inevitable. They’d probably still defend him mind you. Sour sour man.
You're the one jumping the gun and moaning about something he hasn't done, yet he is the sour one? y'all entitled to hate the man, irrationally or not, but get a grip for christ sake.
 
Its a good point. On the subject of what a DoF does, its also another good point because each club may define it in a different way.

Indeed. A DoF is a great thing in conjunction with a sympatico manager, but a terrible thing when paired with a poor or belligerent one... In the end, it ultimately always comes down to the players and the manager. As it always has. A good DoF doesn’t win you titles on their own. But a good manager, and/or good players can.

However much smoke is currently being blown up Klopp’s ass, Brendan Rodgers remains the closest any modern Liverpool boss has come to winning the league, and he did so with no DoF at all!... but also not long after Roy Hodgson had gone full David Moyes under a very powerful DoF in Damien Comolli (who, faults aside, still signed the likes of Suárez, Coutinho & Henderson)

It’s a very relative position.

That said... if there’s one person in the entire footballing world that the very notion of a DoF is objectively ill-suited for, it’s absolutely Jose Mourinho. Because nothing says “Classic Mourinho Meltdown” like “Person appointed to tell him who to buy”...

...but we now live in Bizarro World, where Trump is President, Brexit is happening, and Man United fans think a DoF appointment would’ve not just saved Mourinho, but also acted as some all purpose, deck clearing magic spell of sorts, and instantly restored us onto the path of ultimate righteousness....or something.
 
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He's at the lost in showbiz stage.
 
Jose is too busy promoting himself. He can cry about behind the scenes issues all he wants but Ole got the same exact squad he did and his was a shitshow for 2 years he even parked the bus against Ajax kids. Many of the targets he wanted were short term fixes or centerbacks who were a very mild improvement over what we had so the board wasn’t willing to sanction that. They still bought £50m Fred whom he didn’t even use
 
I’m 99.9% sure that nobody on the Caf has a clue what a DoF does, or how one would practically function at the club... but our lack of one makes a brilliant catch all excuse in almost any circumstance, tbf.

As you say, Jose has had previous high profile problems with DoFs before, or indeed with anyone with power above him to purchase players (Shevchenko & Ballack, anyone?) and by all accounts always coveted the United job so highly in part because it was the last elite side ruled by an all powerful God-King....

...but apparently his failures here are entirely due to the lack of such a position?... A position with the power to assert control over the game’s most prominent narcissist?... Come the-figgidy-feck-again now!?

Couldn't have put it better. We've hired two managers with some sort of cult following. So when they fail despite getting all they asked for they start looking for hilarious excuses. It has to be something else. They usually go after the players before they realise how stupid it sounds because the manager bought most of them, so they just go after the club,structure, Woody, no DOF etc
 
You are just so wrong. I don't rewrite history. You might want to check out my posts. What you responded to was within a context. EVERYBODY knows that Jose's level of dressing room disruptiveness probably has no rival. I like him but I have not lost my senses enough to deny that. To say that will be attempting to re-write history. My point was that any manager can have player issues in a very general term and unless the club has a structure to cater for that especially in these days of player power, there will be trouble. At times I feel some of those who dislike Jose are actually the ones who let the dislike cloud their reasoning as much as those who excessively support him to the detriment of reason.

You fail to understand the point. In modern football, the manager is not bigger than the player who has spent a long time at the club, or who is a world class game changer that the squad looks up to. Ergo, man-management plays a role. Do you think Real will shunt out peak Ramos, or Roma will give the boot to prime Totti or PSG would favor Tuchel over Neymar if the managers fell out with them?

Emery was sacked from PSG because Neymar didn't like him. PSG already have a "structure". What good did it do Emery?

In modern football, a superstar player, egotistical or not, is as valuable an asset as the manager and no DoF, even if we had appointed one, would cater to Jose's ridiculous fantasies of freezing out Pogba just because he fell out with the latter.

As some have pointed out already, nothing can be done if Jose falls out with the entire squad -- he basically fell out with Martial, Shaw, Pogba, took digs at the "natural abilities" of Rashford and Lingard. Most of these weren't even average, dispensable players (bar Lingard and Shaw) But our star players. Even if we had a DoF, what do you expect to do in this situation? Sell them all and give Jose another 500 million?

Also, please don't make assumptions about others "hating" Mourinho. I advocated his appointment and pretty much defended him until this season myself. Even now, I accept he was a great manager and if we had gotten him at his peak, we would have likely enjoyed his stay. But that ship has sailed, and currently he's simply trying to deflect from the real problem during his tenure which was his own inadequate man-management.
 


No, there won't be, not unless the manager somehow manages to fall out with the entire squad. Falling out with individuals as long as the majority of the players are happy is no problem whatsoever. You're pretending this is a major issue, but yet there's no comparisons that are valid. Did Guardiola get the sack at Barcelona for shifting out Eto'o and Ronaldinho ? falling out with Zlatan ? did he get the sack at Bayern for falling out with individuals, what about at City ? Nah. There's nothing viable to suggest that player problem has anything to do whatsoever with Mourinho getting sacked.



Mourinho worked within the same structure, a structure that empowered him far more than any superstar player. The problem was how he used that power, how he fell out with the majority of the squad. Fergie admitted on several occasions that he had to change his approach, it's called adapting.

You keep going on about Mourinho and keep suggesting my post is a defence of him. It is not. I have made it clear that Jose's disruptive nature is obvious.
Where we differ mainly is your view that the United structure is fine as it is and it has only been a manager problem we have had since Sir Alex left. This is where I disagree and Jose's example, while different from the others in specific terms due to his more disruptive nature and ego, mirrors general problems LVG and Moyes also had. A club structure must cater for hiring, disciplining, training, transfers, etc. Again, I repeat, Jose's documented failings or not, we either make the manager more important than any super star player or we hire a DoF to tuck in between the board and the team/manager.
 
Was difficult for Jose. Impossible even given how he kept moaning. Maybe winning a title won't be that difficult either once the manager isn't a past it egomaniac

Yeah, winning was really difficult for Jose obviously.
 
I think Mourinho is just a narcissistic troll, His intention is to annoy people. With his style of football, with his off-field antics and especially with his interview

I mean the Heritage interview was another level of trolling to a team you just crashed out of Europe


That interview was the last straw for me. It actually hurt more than the defeat itself. Humiliating. Your own club. Us, the fans.
 
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You fail to understand the point. In modern football, the manager is not bigger than the player who has spent a long time at the club, or who is a world class game changer that the squad looks up to. Ergo, man-management plays a role. Do you think Real will shunt out peak Ramos, or Roma will give the boot to prime Totti or PSG would favor Tuchel over Neymar if the managers fell out with them?

Emery was sacked from PSG because Neymar didn't like him. PSG already have a "structure". What good did it do Emery?

In modern football, a superstar player, egotistical or not, is as valuable an asset as the manager and no DoF, even if we had appointed one, would cater to Jose's ridiculous fantasies of freezing out Pogba just because he fell out with the latter.

As some have pointed out already, nothing can be done if Jose falls out with the entire squad -- he basically fell out with Martial, Shaw, Pogba, took digs at the "natural abilities" of Rashford and Lingard. Most of these weren't even average, dispensable players (bar Lingard and Shaw) But our star players. Even if we had a DoF, what do you expect to do in this situation? Sell them all and give Jose another 500 million?

Also, please don't make assumptions about others "hating" Mourinho. I advocated his appointment and pretty much defended him until this season myself. Even now, I accept he was a great manager and if we had gotten him at his peak, we would have likely enjoyed his stay. But that ship has sailed, and currently he's simply trying to deflect from the real problem during his tenure which was his own inadequate man-management.

We seem to agree on my point: player power is very much real in the modern game..I'm happy we are on the same page on that.

Again, about Jose, no objective person will deny what you wrote and if you see my posts on this conversation you will notice I have not done that. But the issue is, Jose or no Jose, there has to be a structure that caters to the realities of today's football. Should players be more powerful than the manager or should it be the other way round or is there an arrangement somewhere in between? This is a conversation that will become increasingly important for clubs as players become more and more powerful.
 
Wait, he is not getting any abuse for saying that finishing second with United is one of the best jobs he's done? What a cnut. :lol:
Probably because he's said it before. He's the king of self preserving bullshit and getting others to buy it.
 
We all saw him as our saviour, then his incapacity to manage such a big club showed... yeah he failed simply.

On the other hand, I find it bizarre how could Ole change the same team that much in such a short time... how can a player like Pogba change from shite to worldclass in such a short span of time?

Can someone explain this to me? Maybe Mourinho himself could give us a hint.
 
You keep going on about Mourinho and keep suggesting my post is a defence of him. It is not. I have made it clear that Jose's disruptive nature is obvious.
Where we differ mainly is your view that the United structure is fine as it is and it has only been a manager problem we have had since Sir Alex left. This is where I disagree and Jose's example, while different from the others in specific terms due to his more disruptive nature and ego, mirrors general problems LVG and Moyes also had. A club structure must cater for hiring, disciplining, training, transfers, etc. Again, I repeat, Jose's documented failings or not, we either make the manager more important than any super star player or we hire a DoF to tuck in between the board and the team/manager.

Like? I'd also like examples for where a club structure was responsible for disciplining players
 
Be interesting to see the Jose loyalist’s reaction when he turns up to OT with an Italian team and steals a 1-0 win. He’ll soon be hushing and gesturing to the United fans. It’s inevitable. They’d probably still defend him mind you. Sour sour man.

I might be imagining it but didn't we beat his inter team comfortably at OT? Hopefully similar result if it ever happens and he does return.
 
I might be imagining it but didn't we beat his inter team comfortably at OT? Hopefully similar result if it ever happens and he does return.
Yeah and iirc, the first leg at the San Siro, we drew 0-0 but were the much better team

Looked at the stats and Inter had no shots on target in that 0-0 too
 
Can't really believe people going on about structure etc. Mourinho wasn't talking about structure in terms of the way the club football operation is run. FFS, he stopped the club appointing a DOF, clashed with the one at Chelsea and chased the one at Real Madrid away.
He is saying football people in the club should have backed him instead of the players. What football club sells its most valuable assets for a manager that has fallen out with the board and many of the players? A manager that has a history of falling out in similar situations and leaving clubs in a state.
Some of you have no sense of perspective. Whatever the problem with the club's structure is, the board rightly realised Mourinho was not the kind of man to back and pin their hopes on.
He can continue spinning it however he wants. When people insist on talking about Mourinho's history and how we should have backed him to the hilt, they choose to only focus on his successes and ignire his failures. The Most recent history of the man we appointed was that he left his previous club 16th on the table with half a season gone.
 
Can't believe there are people who still believe what Jose says. Guy is a serial bullshitter and a liar. He is just a pathetic liar. His interview on Salah is so painfully wrong, it's just hilarious. Luckily there is no hiding for managers who gives thousands on interviews. His words on Salah are on record, how he said he has 5 better wingers than him and he would be happy if he doesn't return, now he says how he signed Salah and was sold by different manager.

Again blames everyone but nothing about his pathetic man management and how he shat on so many players.