Carragher article in The Telegraph

[Devil may care]

It's a spot on article. It's exhausting supporting a Mourinho team, the bloke keeps on starting a fight when there's none.

It is tiring I agree, I've stopped watching his pressers and post match interviews for the most part, he's in this weird passive aggressive phase, it feels like he's not happy but doesn't have the energy to fight so he's just throws little jabs in.

 

[clarkydaz]

It is tiring I agree, I've stopped watching his pressers and post match interviews for the most part, he's in this weird passive aggressive phase, it feels like he's not happy but doesn't have the energy to fight so he's just throws little jabs in.

Is it a phase, or is it just how he is now

 

[Devil may care]

Is it a phase, or is it just how he is now

Maybe it's a symbol that he's lost his edge, he's never seemed quite the same since the collapse at Chelsea.

 

[Kapardin]

Just another silly article.

How many United or England fans would have swapped Marcus Rashford for Raheem Sterling a year ago?

Why compare these two in particular? I have a better idea. Compare Sterling with Lingard, who have both improved under their respective managers. Compare Rashford instead with Iheanacho. See who comes out as the clear winner?

This sort of comparison can be manipulated any way.

United broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba, and then made Romelu Lukaku the most expensive Premier League player of last summer. Which English clubs made bigger statements of intent?

Why not talk about the fact that City signed De Bruyne and Sterling for a small fortune even prior to Guardiola arrived? Or how Guardiola signed 3 FBs for over 100 million while we are still dependent on 2 failed wingers at FB positions?

What about the bit part player Gundogan? Good when he's on the pitch, but a rarity to see him play a full season I'd wager.

Luke Shaw was a £30 million full-back – more expensive than City striker Gabriel Jesus.

Again, randomly comparing one player with another who does not even play in the same position. Shaw is English and a FB who had a prior reputation, while Jesus is a forward purchased from abroad. Why not compare Shaw's price tag with Walker or Mendy, that is more apt.

Even now, it is the United squad that has the most expensive ‘superstars’

Yes, I am sure that De Bruyne, Sterling, Silva and Aguero are all just farmers in comparison.

If Mourinho was coaching the Manchester City side they would not be playing the style of football we are seeing today. If there is a symbol of that look no further than Kevin De Bruyne, a player Mourinho coached at Chelsea but then sold.

What has style of football got to do with a mistake he made in selling a player some time ago? And has no manager ever made such mistakes?

Guardiola is breaking records. Mourinho is starting to sound like a broken one.

He's a good one to be talking about sounds when sometimes one struggles to understand what he says when he opens his mouth. I guess that's why he decided to write an article.

 

[Oscie]

I miss the vibrant, bubbly managers of the past we used to have like David Moyes, or even Alex Ferguson. Well known life and soul and press conferences that one. And definitely not one to rock the boat or cause a scene nor bleat on to anyone who'd listen for a quarter of a century how everyone is biased against us, or anything like that.

The way people are desperate to psychoanalyse the manager because he's not handing out Jammie Dodgers and offering handjobs to the press, whilst being blissfully unaware that for decades we were manged by the most miserable and prickly bastard in the history of sport, is quite stunning. It's an article that jabs at the manager, so despite the fact we're demonstrably greatly improved this season..."Spot on".

If an article is written tomorrow that calls Mourinho a wanker the response here from some would be:

Well he's turned the club around to the point where not being top feels like a disappointment following seasons of utter humiliation...but the last couple of results were shit so yeah...wanker. And he doesn't show any leg at press conferences! I hate that most! Fergie did them naked! Frigid Jose!

Fans. Love 'em.

 

[manunited1919]

Carragher is just being a good reporter, just trying to pile the pressure on Mourinho. Why doesn’t he say that:

• Mourinho has brought the team from 6th place to 2nd place.
• Mourinho has to wait for Martial and Rashford to develop, as the club wants to continue developing youth.
• When Mourinho took over, United were playing god-awful uninspiring possession football.
• When Mourinho took over, we looked like a broken team, with Rooney as it’s ineffective centerpiece.
• Were it not for Man City having an exceptional year, we would be top of the table with tge points we have in most seasons.
• It is way more difficult to motivate players to play well for the PL when they know the trophy is effectively out if reach.

There is just no comparison; Mourinho has had much heavier lifting to do by far, compared to Pep. He should get more credit for what he has done so far.

BTW, I will not be surprised if we have a great run in the Champions League, perhaps to the Semifinals or Finals, as the team will be more motivated for that competition.

 

[Acole9]

I think it's actually a pretty good article, this forum just reeks of denial and jealousy.

 

[bosnian_red]

I agree with a lot of it. And definitely agree with the title. Had Guardiola took charge of United, I'm pretty confident in thinking we'd be top and playing brilliant football. Maybe not the same extent as City, but we'd still be better to watch and doing better overall this season with more reasons to be optimistic going forward. A lot of the signings City made since Pep took over could well have gone to United, and I think it's definite that Jesus, sane, Bernardo Silva, and stones would have all come to United. Good chance with Pogba too, though that's not a guarantee. But I do think we basically missed a chance in letting them have Pep.

 

[AshRK]

Another article which adds nothing new but just over exaggerating issues to suit one's agenda. Carragher says Jose has not improved any player but Lingard, Young, Fellaini, Jones(who look far more composed), Rojo all have improved. Even Rashford and Martial have become better all round players.

If I was living under a cave since August and had no access to internet and opened social media now and saw such articles, I would have imagined us fighting relegation. Jose has not been perfect but these press must stop overreacting. There can only be one winner and sadly for Jose and Manchester United, city are having a season of their life. Never will such feats be repeated. I am not asking people to blindly back Jose but such articles are over the top and written for the sake of it and adds nothing new.

 

[TRA007]

Carragher is just being a good reporter, just trying to pile the pressure on Mourinho. Why doesn’t he say that:

• Mourinho has brought the team from 6th place to 2nd place.
• Mourinho has to wait for Martial and Rashford to develop, as the club wants to continue developing youth.
• When Mourinho took over, United were playing god-awful uninspiring possession football.
• When Mourinho took over, we looked like a broken team, with Rooney as it’s ineffective centerpiece.
• Were it not for Man City having an exceptional year, we would be top of the table with tge points we have in most seasons.
• It is way more difficult to motivate players to play well for the PL when they know the trophy is effectively out if reach.

There is just no comparison; Mourinho has had much heavier lifting to do by far, compared to Pep. He should get more credit for what he has done so far.

BTW, I will not be surprised if we have a great run in the Champions League, perhaps to the Semifinals or Finals, as the team will be more motivated for that competition.

I think developing entitles more than allowing a player adequate game time, rather developing is improving the weak areas of a player and inculcating a certain mindset ala Sir Alex and CR7.
In this regard, how has Mou developed Rashford or Martial or even Pogba?

 

[Canagel]

Pep would NOT win the league with United's current squad. No way. Infact if he was our manager this season I'd go as far as saying he wouldn't have the same points that we've collected with Mourinho so far. We saw last year that Pep needs players with a certain skillset to play the high pressing possession style he likes. I would dread seeing us playing out from the back with Smalling and Jones and 2 failed wingers in FB positions. It would be a recipe for disaster. We don't even even a natural winger in this team. Pep got rid of Sagna, Kolarov, Clichy and Zabaleta after last season's failure. That's the entire set of full backs at City. He would need to do a similar clear out here before we can do anything. There are about 6 or 7 players in this team he would get rid of within a week so I think Pep would've failed with this current team just like he failed with City last year. If he'd adapted to his players he may have had better results but with Pep you need to adapt to him because he will only play one way.

 

[MJJ]

It's a spot on article. It's exhausting supporting a Mourinho team, the bloke keeps on starting a fight when there's none.

Our biggest problem is our fan base who have rubbish expectations and small memory.

They have forgotten the last four seasons and have completely disregarded the progress made in this season.

They've forgotten that we were beaten by the likes of Southend or Leeds etc in the domestic Cup competitions when we were managed by Ferguson.

Seems hilarious that when we this Cup last season, there wasn't too much celebration. However losing one match in it is causing people to re-evaluate the manager and the squads quality.

 

[JPRouve]

Pep would NOT win the league with United's current squad. No way. Infact if he was our manager this season I'd go as far as saying he wouldn't have the same points that we've collected with Mourinho so far. We saw last year that Pep needs players with a certain skillset to play the high pressing possession style he likes. I would dread seeing us playing out from the back with Smalling and Jones and 2 failed wingers in FB positions. It would be a recipe for disaster. We don't even even a natural winger in this team. Pep got rid of Sagna, Kolarov, Clichy and Zabaleta after last season's failure. That's the entire set of full backs at City. He would need to do a similar clear out here before we can do anything. There are about 6 or 7 players in this team he would get rid of within a week so I think Pep would've failed with this current team just like he failed with City last year. If he'd adapted to his players he may have had better results but with Pep you need to adapt to him because he will only play one way.

Well, Pep wouldn't have the current squad and you can make the same flexibility criticism for Mourinho. Also as an inside all the fullbacks you mentioned were genuinely old, all of them at the end of their careers.

 

[AshRK]

Pep would NOT win the league with United's current squad. No way. Infact if he was our manager this season I'd go as far as saying he wouldn't have the same points that we've collected with Mourinho so far. We saw last year that Pep needs players with a certain skillset to play the high pressing possession style he likes. I would dread seeing us playing out from the back with Smalling and Jones and 2 failed wingers in FB positions. It would be a recipe for disaster. We don't even even a natural winger in this team. Pep got rid of Sagna, Kolarov, Clichy and Zabaleta after last season's failure. That's the entire set of full backs at City. He would need to do a similar clear out here before we can do anything. There are about 6 or 7 players in this team he would get rid of within a week so I think Pep would've failed with this current team just like he failed with City last year. If he'd adapted to his players he may have had better results but with Pep you need to adapt to him because he will only play one way.

And he would not have a KDB and Silva so like Jose he would have had to spent some absurd money and unlike in city he would not have got unlimited funds.

 

[Coxy]

Agree with the article. Not only has he bought better than us - he has also improved the current players too. Sterling, Stones, Otamendi and even De Bruyne and some others

 

[fredthered]

Its bad enough reading the Telegraph. Reading that phlegm chucking lanky twat is something I cannot bring myself to do.

I couldn't care what Carragher thinks about anything to do with United.. Hate him, always have and always will and anything he says is irrelevant to me.

 

[whatwha]

Maybe it's a symbol that he's lost his edge, he's never seemed quite the same since the collapse at Chelsea.

I think it started in his last season at Real Madrid, with the player 'mutiny' and the media being against him.

 

[Litch]

Just another silly article.



Why compare these two in particular? I have a better idea. Compare Sterling with Lingard, who have both improved under their respective managers. Compare Rashford instead with Iheanacho. See who comes out as the clear winner?

This sort of comparison can be manipulated any way.



Why not talk about the fact that City signed De Bruyne and Sterling for a small fortune even prior to Guardiola arrived? Or how Guardiola signed 3 FBs for over 100 million while we are still dependent on 2 failed wingers at FB positions?

What about the bit part player Gundogan? Good when he's on the pitch, but a rarity to see him play a full season I'd wager.



Again, randomly comparing one player with another who does not even play in the same position. Shaw is English and a FB who had a prior reputation, while Jesus is a forward purchased from abroad. Why not compare Shaw's price tag with Walker or Mendy, that is more apt.



Yes, I am sure that De Bruyne, Sterling, Silva and Aguero are all just farmers in comparison.



What has style of football got to do with a mistake he made in selling a player some time ago? And has no manager ever made such mistakes?



He's a good one to be talking about sounds when sometimes one struggles to understand what he says when he opens his mouth. I guess that's why he decided to write an article.

Spot on. If Utd are behind City, how far are everyone else then. Yep we've spent money but we didn't have a Kane, Ali, Hazard, Ozil, Sanchez et al and some might argue we still don't....

 

[Oscie]

So the manager who fields 3 players from the academy regularly in his starting line-up is about the 'instant hit', meanwhile Pep is all about building for the future?

 

[Litch]

Its bad enough reading the Telegraph. Reading that phlegm chucking lanky twat is something I cannot bring myself to do.

I couldn't care what Carragher thinks about anything to do with United.. Hate him, always have and always will and anything he says is irrelevant to me.

Couldn't agree more, I'd have been surprised if he wrote something different.

 

[STYLOISRED]

My annoyance with such threads is that it ends up in moaning after moaning after moaning. when Mourinho was appointed we all knew the kind of manager he was- pragmatic, excellent at setting up defences, not as excellent when setting up attacks, a master recruiter of players to play his style of football, a massive ego, a stern attitude. we all knew what we were in for. he was appointed because we needed to steady this ship after 3 wasteful years. yet we act like we didn't expect this.
i hate it when people say him nd Pep had similar tasks because that is very wrong- he had much more work to do and he is doing it.
I miss the glorious days of Manchester united of old but lets face it those days are gone. football has changed and we have to change with it. we may not be the best side or the most cohesive side in the league but Jose is building something special. something that isn't common- a team with a strong spine and with the mental strength to absorb heat and handle pressure. and in 2 years time when when he is gone and we bring in someone who can unleash the venom of our attack, we will be grateful to him. Ask Ramos and Co. if you don't get my drift

 

[Canagel]

Well, Pep wouldn't have the current squad and you can make the same flexibility criticism for Mourinho. Also as an inside all the fullbacks you mentioned were genuinely old, all of them at the end of their careers.

Carragher mentioned the current squad with Pep would win the league. I don't agree with that. Of course everyone knows he wouldn't have the same squad but the point is you can't blame Mourinho for not getting the best out of these players and then claim Pep would do a better job because he wouldn't. He would need at least the same time as Jose as had to rebuild this team. Whether Pep would be challenging for the league now if he'd arrived in 2016 like Jose did then that's up for debate.

 

[United!!]

Both were excellent players before.

We could arguably say that all players now playing at United and City had potential. That's why they were bought. It is up to the manager to get the best out of them. I think Guardiola, only considering the players he bought or still remain in the squad, only failed to improve Nolito, Gundogan, Bravo and maybe Bernardo. Just because players who were there before were great players, you can't deny that the likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Delph, Otamendi, Sterling, Fernandinho are playing the best football of their career. Also, players like Walker, Stones, Sane, Ederson and Jesus are playing significantly better than in their prior clubs and most are also playing their best football.

You can't say the same about United. I think only Fellaini, Lingard, Young and maybe Matic were improved. Martial, Rashford, Blind, Smalling, Herrera, Mata were better under LVG and Ibra, Pogba, Lukakyu, Mhki, Lindelof, and even Bailly were better at their prior clubs. You can keep denying it, saying that the players are not good enough. Or you can accept the fact that you have a great squad that is playing poor football. Or come up with nonsense like "they paid a lot for Stones, obviously he was good", denying the fact that you also spent a lot in the likes of Lukaku, Pogba and Mhki and are not performing near as well as in their prior clubs.

 

[JPRouve]

Carragher mentioned the current squad with Pep would win the league. I don't agree with that. Of course everyone knows he wouldn't have the same squad but the point is you can't blame Mourinho for not getting the best out of these players and then claim Pep would do a better job because he wouldn't. He would need at least the same time as Jose as had to rebuild this team. Whether Pep would be challenging for the league now if he'd arrived in 2016 like Jose did then that's up for debate.

You can "blame" Mourinho for having the current squad though. Blame isn't really the correct word but Mourinho made choices that created a squad that he struggles to make his. And I don't really follow your time argument they joined their current teams at the same time, Mourinho even had the luxury of being out of job and able to analyze his future squad.

Also I don't think he is wrong, the problem with our team isn't that we have bad players, it's that they don't correspond to Mourinho, they are not made to play his football.

 

[RooneyLegend]

The lengths some go to defend Jose is staggering.

 

[Oscie]

The lengths some go to defend Jose is staggering.

If you're staggered by people defending a manager who is currently delivering the best start to a season we've had in 5 years then maybe that says more about you?

 

[marjen]

I think Mourinho's done a good job and I doubt there are other options available that would do better.

But Carragher's absolutely right. Most of us thought we could go toe-to-toe with City in terms of quality before the season started. Unfortunately, as long as we've got José and they've got Guardiola, more often than not we won't.

 

[Sied]

I agree with a lot of his points, but he's overly critical imo. We've clearly improved under Mourinho, albeit are in a poor run of form at the minute. However City have improved much more in the same time span, which is always going to reflect poorly on Mourinho.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

The lengths some go to defend Jose is staggering.

How dare anyone defend the Manchester United manager? Outrageous.

 

[RooneyLegend]

How dare anyone defend the Manchester United manager? Outrageous.

Felt the same way when LVG and Moyes held that title?

 

[Denis79]

How dare anyone defend the Manchester United manager? Outrageous.

This is a City forum remember?

 

[ArmchairCritic]

The player improvement thing is an interesting notion. At this level I don't think coaches are actively impacting the technical ability of players or making them better than they already are, the skill set is already there it's just not being utilised. Sterling for instance is the same player he was last year technically, he wasn't even first choice at the start of the season. The difference lies in the system the coaches incorporate. Guardiola's system is well established and his structure gives his players confidence as they will always be certain to have at least 3 options to pass to at any given time. This confidence allows them to execute and to flourish as they don't really have to think or hesitate on what they can do or where they should move to. Creating this environment is what unlocks the highest level of performance. SAF did not have such a well defined structure to draw on but his players were always certain in what they were supposed to do.

Mourinho's system is also well established but I can't see anything within this side that aligns to the hallmarks of his previous teams. I think this is a combination of players not being good enough (i.e. two guys we signed as wingers are our first choice full-backs) and Mourinho not being the same hands-on fanatical coach he was when he first came on the scene. He can be doing better but so can the whole club, it's pretty fatiguing to read all these Mourinho pieces in between games when there are so many contributory factors to where we are now.

Looking at this league season in isolation Pogba's not even played half of our league games, we've had an unsettled backline all season and people are obsessed with Mourinho and what he's said in his press conference. I suppose on one hand he invites the attention but on the other hand coaches with better foundations to build on have not even received half the scrutiny he has for having their clubs underneath us.

 

[Charles Miller]

I'm a fan of Pep Guardiola style and i would prefer Man United playing that way, but Carragher is unfair with Mourinho there. First of all hes overrating some of our players. The squads are not comparable at all.

Mourinho will need to sign at least 04, maybe 05 players - 02 full backs, 01 passing midfielder, 01 or 02 wingers, to be competitive against City.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

I mean this is nonsense:

Of Guardiola’s signings only Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy – players absent with injury for much of their time in Manchester – arrived as fully-established 'stars' elsewhere.

It's a bit rich to say that Pep bought no established players. He bought some of the most sought after players in world football. Their age is immaterial because Pep started from a far higher base. You can afford to take chances on Sane and Jesus when you already have a strong spine and previous managers have spent hundreds of millions for a decade.

Also, what about Walker, or doesn't he count?

The only point I agree with him on his Jose's interviews which have been progressively worse and worse.

 

[diplomat]

Felt the same way when LVG and Moyes held that title?

Some people love Mourinho so much that any criticism seems to them as a notion to sack him, rather than him improving himself and the team along with that.

The double standards are real on the Cafe and it seriously pisses me off whenever I read some fanatical opinions about supporting whatever and whoever no matter what. I'm not some kind of robot to be programmed in a linear way of thinking and I'm also not part of a cult or religion, so it makes no sense to me. I would love Jose to be a success at Manchester United, but he just doesn't help himself with the constant whining and frowning, and pointing fingers at everything else possible.

 

[vangagal]

Some people love Mourinho so much that any criticism seems to them as a notion to sack him, rather than him improving himself and the team along with that.

The double standards are real on the Cafe and it seriously pisses me off whenever I read some fanatical opinions about supporting whatever and whoever no matter what. I'm not some kind of robot to be programmed in a linear way of thinking and I'm also not part of a cult or religion, so it makes no sense to me. I would love Jose to be a success at Manchester United, but he just doesn't help himself with the constant whining and frowning, and pointing fingers at everything else possible.

The same can be said about people who dislike Mourinho. Any statement that laid out to prove that he improve United have been thrown out straight to the window or ignore straight away just for sake of it.

I think nothing is double standards, it just people hate him or love Mourinho comes to the point where there's no middle ground of it. You can hope someone just node their head to your point and following order to spout Mou's shit agenda. The same can be said about the other side. He's no saint yes, but he shows improvement in results, at least we can say that.

 

[el3mel]

We could arguably say that all players now playing at United and City had potential. That's why they were bought. It is up to the manager to get the best out of them. I think Guardiola, only considering the players he bought or still remain in the squad, only failed to improve Nolito, Gundogan, Bravo and maybe Bernardo. Just because players who were there before were great players, you can't deny that the likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Delph, Otamendi, Sterling, Fernandinho are playing the best football of their career. Also, players like Walker, Stones, Sane, Ederson and Jesus are playing significantly better than in their prior clubs and most are also playing their best football.

You can't say the same about United. I think only Fellaini, Lingard, Young and maybe Matic were improved. Martial, Rashford, Blind, Smalling, Herrera, Mata were better under LVG and Ibra, Pogba, Lukakyu, Mhki, Lindelof, and even Bailly were better at their prior clubs. You can keep denying it, saying that the players are not good enough. Or you can accept the fact that you have a great squad that is playing poor football. Or come up with nonsense like "they paid a lot for Stones, obviously he was good", denying the fact that you also spent a lot in the likes of Lukaku, Pogba and Mhki and are not performing near as well as in their prior clubs.

The names in bold are ridiculous claim. Rashford had scored 8 goals in his half season under LVG as a striker. Now he's playing as a wide forward and scored 9 and assisted 8 in half a season so far. Herrera won POTY under Mourinho, while he was a bench player under LVG. Smalling is having a good current season so far and Mata form has been the same since he joined under Moyes. Pogba is on the same form as Juve. He has always been the kind of player to score 9-10 goals and assist about 11-12 through the season and he's doing this so far. Revise his numbers in Juve before talking. Lukaku is having a regular season and on the march of scoring his usual 25 goals. Zlatan scored 28 goals in his first season in EPL which was impressive and mentioning Bailly is a real joke really. Lindelof was normal to take time to settle in the league and his form has been raising these last few matches.

Only Martial from your list is the arguable one as his season under LVG was better, but even currently he's on 8 goals and 8 assists in a half of a season so this point doesn't stand as strong as it was last season. I won't give Blind a shot as he was always a mediocre overrated player.

I said it previously and I'll say it again. Those who believe we had a great squad with its only problem is the manager are up to a big disappointment when Mourinho leaves and the next manager comes with exactly similar problems present. Those are the same people who thought the problem was 100% in Moyes alone, so got disappointed under LVG and thought he was the problem alone 100%, so now are disappointed under Mourinho, and will be disappointed again under the next manager and so on.

We had a good squad, with some very good names but obviously we have problems in the players in the forward line. We have 2 good talents who are normally inconsistent in this age so their form is always up and down, and no good senior players to depend on in the attack and to relieve pressure from the youngsters. Only solution for this is to either wait till Martial and Rashford grow up some more years and acquire enough level of consistency or go on and buy some already elite players in the attack from now till both develop.

 

[Snow]

Jamie Carragher sits down with an agenda and then tries to fit his narrative after he starts writing.

Was Ederson considered better than David De Gea? Were City’s centre-backs Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones preferable to Eric Bailly and Phil Jones? Did United fans want Fernandinho or Nemanja Matic?

Flawed argument here, only explores one side. What about De Bruyne, D. Silva and Aguero? All of them considered top 10 players in the league. He mentions CBs but neglects to mention Kompany who when fit is always straight into the starting lineup.

United broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba, and then made Romelu Lukaku the most expensive Premier League player of last summer. Which English clubs made bigger statements of intent?

And Guardiola bought a CB for 50m then next summer shattered the record for a full back only to break it again for another full back 10 days later. 100m for 2 full backs. Pogba's fee is already a "bargain" (brackets because it's still a lot of money) despite him joining less than 2 years ago.

How many United or England fans would have swapped Marcus Rashford for Raheem Sterling a year ago? And when Anthony Martial first arrived from Monaco, was his reputation greater than that of Leroy Sane when he joined City?

Although he was signed before Mourinho’s appointment, Luke Shaw was a £30 million full-back – more expensive than City striker Gabriel Jesus. The United manager’s complaints about the value of the squads do not add up.

A lot of fans would have swapped the two. But yea, doesn't matter that Sterling has been playing far longer than Rashford does it? Martial's record when he joined was "who is that?". Sané's reputation was "City has bought one of Germany's biggest talents". We did as well with Martial but he didn't have that reputation yet.

Shaw is a 30m full back (not a José purchased) that's pretty much been unfit the entire Mourinho tenure but Mendy gets the injury treatment from Carragher.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pogba and Lukaku delivered elsewhere prior to moving to Old Trafford. Have they improved under Mourinho? That is the troubling question for the United manager. It is starting to sound like he has no patience or will to make what he has better.

Mkhi? No. Some players don't adapt and work out. That happens all the time with transfers. Has Bernardo Silva improved under Pep? Lukaku has been here 6 months. How good was Sterling last season? Pogba has certainly improved and there's a massive difference when he's absent.

City's transfer policy does involve lavish spending, but some fees have often been more eye-catching than the names. Of Guardiola’s signings only Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy – players absent with injury for much of their time in Manchester – arrived as fully-established 'stars' elsewhere.

Plain bullshit from Carragher. Ederson was a fully established goalkeeper that played well in the CL prior season. Kyle Walker? Never heard of him before? Danilo had played for Porto and Real Madrid, what a shit player he must have been. Mendy was established but not Bernardo Silva? Claudio Bravo was the Barca keeper and Nolito a Spanish international that chose City over a Spanish giant.

I have heard all the arguments about how De Bruyne – just like Mo Salah - was not so developed at Chelsea during the Mourinho era, and Chelsea did not suffer given they won the title twice in three years after selling him. But would other managers have discarded such a talent, or would they have found a way to nurture it in the long-term interests of the club? It is hard to believe Guardiola would have managed De Bruyne on a daily basis at a young age and not seen what he might become.

Pure speculations. Mourinho always sell players that want to leave. He sold Mata and Lukaku as well. He sold Robben to Real. If players don't want to play for him he sells them. Do other managers do that? Yes, plenty do.

De Bruyne was an excellent player before Pep’s appointment. Now he is the best player in the Premier League. David Silva has been revitalised with a change of position in central midfield. Who else would have put him there? Would Fabian Delph or Otamendi be the players they are under Mourinho? Do not forget Guardiola also inherited an ageing squad and had to ship out and replace plenty of players.

Hazard, Sanchez, D. Silva and Augero are the players that were talked about in the same ilk as De Bruyne is now. Hazard has been largely absent but he's up there with De Bruyne. Pogba could be as well but he's also been largely absent. Sanchez hasn't been as good and neither has Aguero and that leaves De Bruyne and D. Silva as the top players in the league. I'm not going to argue semantics like "Kane is up there", that's irrelevant. David Silva hasn't been revitalized, he's always been great and Pep did nothing special with him, he just got him better players to work off of on either side of him.

Delph and Otamendi would not be worse under Mourinho. Would Young and Valencia be the same players under Pep? What about Rojo or Jones? See how easy it is to turn it around.

Guardiola had to ship out ageing players? Jeez, must have been difficult to let the contracts run out like that. Rooney, Carrick, Schweinsteiger just left. Both the previous manager had to replace ageing players. That's what managers have to do in football. The ageing players Pep got rid off were full backs.

Such a shit article. He should go into politics with words like that. Populist nonsense.

 

[Redmurph16]

I think Mourinho's done a good job and I doubt there are other options available that would do better.

But Carragher's absolutely right. Most of us thought we could go toe-to-toe with City in terms of quality before the season started. Unfortunately, as long as we've got José and they've got Guardiola, more often than not we won't.

I agree with the first part.

But City have a couple of players playing out of their skins at the moment. Credit where credit is due - they're good to watch and on an amazing run just now. That puts our improvement in the shade.

But they are incredibly cynical when they lose the ball, but don't get called on it because the media are happy with the 'saint Pep' story at the moment.

I remember Pep last season when they had a wobble. We might have some laughs this season yet!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I mean this is nonsense:



It's a bit rich to say that Pep bought no established players. He bought some of the most sought after players in world football. Their age is immaterial because Pep started from a far higher base. You can afford to take chances on Sane and Jesus when you already have a strong spine and previous managers have spent hundreds of millions for a decade.

Also, what about Walker, or doesn't he count?

The only point I agree with him on his Jose's interviews which have been progressively worse and worse.

Aye it’s horseshit. You can add Ederson, Gundogan and Silva to the list of established ‘stars’ at other clubs before City signed them.

The article is riddled with ludicrous claims like this and, hence, impossible to take seriously. He’s right about Mourinho acting like a dour prick in press conferences but he’s always been like that. It’s what he does. Even when things are going well for him. See below for classic Mourinho gobshitery from his Porto days...