I think some of the problems with Mourinho’s last transfer were:
- The board wouldn’t give him Maguire because his previous CB purchases were considered a bit of flops at the time (Bailly and Lindelof), or perhaps they wanted to give them more time, also the team had a good defensive record and being the incompetent suits that they are, they assumed it was because the players were good enough.
-His targets were pretty uninspiring, Willian wasn’t it? would’ve been a truly depressing signing.
And then he obviously lost it for not being backed after what he thought was a decent season and wanted to build from there.
Klopp was backed, and improved his team further and the team became better.
Mourinho wasn’t backed in his last summer window and he didn’t like it.
On the CBs, I think that it was a little bit more complicated than that. First I think that they were probably disagreeing with his focus on the same position for a third straight year when we desperately needed to improve in other areas. There is a point where the club as to demand coaching and tactical improvements instead of simply relying on new purchases for the same roles.
Secondly, we had 7 CBS on our books we can't have that many players out of 25, playing in the same position, they are not playing for free which is something that people seem to forget, so we needed to offload three of them before thinking about adding a CB. And then the question is, was Mourinho okay with that?
Thirdly, nothing suggests that Leicester were willing to sell him for a reasonal price after the WC hype and he clearly didn't push for a move.
The way I see it, that situation probably soured everything because it's easy to see everyone have legitimate grief. Mourinho thinking that the club didn't believe in him anymore, which can't be a nice feeling. And the club thinking that they needed an elite coach and not a serial shopper.
From where I stand they are all at fault, if you don't believe in a manager, let him go at the end of the season, don't make him feel bad. And no manager gets everything at the snap of his fingers, often you have to play with the card that you are dealt, what separates the best from the rest is that they simply find a way through coaching because that's the skill supposed to make them special.