In hindsight, Mourinho was right about a few things?

[Cloud7]

Jose's signings were horrific. Fred arguably the best of his signings, with Lindelof and Dalot behind. The rest of them were terrible. Pogba, the biggest waste of money and our worst ever signing imo.

Sanchez was the worst. For me Sanchez was the worst ever signing we made

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

Sanchez was the worst. For me Sanchez was the worst ever signing we made

Did you know he'd be shite when we signed him? At the time he seemed made for United - a hard-working flair player already proven at the top of the PL. Personally - and obviously I was horribly wrong - I was really excited about it, I thought he was going to be a slightly more cultured version of Tevez.

 

[Cloud7]

Did you know he'd be shite when we signed him? At the time he seemed made for United - a hard-working flair player already proven at the top of the PL. Personally - and obviously I was horribly wrong - I was really excited about it, I thought he was going to be a slightly more cultured version of Tevez.

He was crap for quite a while for Arsenal prior to signing for us. Many believed he was just mentally signed out, when in fact he was just crap. I was very excited at his signing as I bought into the explanation that he just wanted out. At the time it made sense but now viewed as a whole his transfer was the worst.

It's also made me very wary of players who excuses are made for when in fact they may just have become crap. It happens.

 

[Lebo]

Trying to think what Ole or Van Gaal were right about (against popular consensus). Back then most of us considered Mourinho a fool for going against Pogba and Martial.

Our current starting 11 looks like this when everyone is fit.
…………….Fergie

Mourinho. Ole. ETH. LVG

…….. ETH. ETH
ETH. Ole. LVG
……………. LVG
This is after all of them signing tons of players except Moyes.
So it’s hard to praise Mourinho when his predecessors players are still more than his in this current team.

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

He was crap for quite a while for Arsenal prior to signing for us.

Eh? He was their player of the year and top scorer in summer 2017 - he then signed for us in January 2018. Nobody could possibly have known that he had 'turned shit' after 6 months (unless they had insider knowledge about his physical or mental health). He wanted to leave for CL football.

It's also made me very wary of players who excuses are made for when in fact they may just have become crap. It happens.

Yeah, it's a weird phenomena when it happens - especially when there isn't an obvious reason like a major injury.

 

[Andersonson]

Mikhi's signing was better than Kagawa's.

Yepp, and that doesnt really say much

 

[marktan]

Threw Shaw under the bus, there was the spell in December not sure what year where he'd get one game, look very good and get benched for Young for the rest of the month for reasons only Mourinho could invent.

Fell out with Pogba, you can justify it for this version of Pogba but at the time he was the WC winning Pogba and the Pogba that under Ole was great in the first year or so.

Fell out with Martial.

The man was good once, when Klopp and the high press weren't around, and when he could buy whoever he wanted at Chelsea. But with increasing parity in the league and other teams outworking his hardworking style of football, and with his toxic personality he's just about good enough for the likes of Roma and even that you can argue with.

 

[Withnail]

Did Mourinho make a single signing anyone could claim has been a success, or even lived up to their price tag?

Dalot, maybe?

 

[jeepers]

Who the feck cares. I can’t understand why you sad fecks (including the Ole haters) keep looking to the past when we have so much to look forward to in the future.

 

[roonster09]

Even the worst ever manager will be right on one or two things if they manage for 2.5 seasons.

Right about Pogba? Well he created the problem. (Jose was bigger problem than Pogba ever was)

On Martial, looks like Eth loves him. Only issue is his injury proo. Nothing to do with attitude or work rate.

If it was up to Jose, we would have sold Shaw, Rashford with players like Rose, Perisic, Willian, Dier signed for big money and wages. Lukaku would be still stinking up the field week in week out and Jose would have said how he was right about Lukaku and why Rashford isn't starting.

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

Always thought Mkhi was harshly treated here. Practically carried us to the last trophy we saw and then was pawned off to Arsenal for a flashier toy.

Mkhi - Pogba - Zlatan - Rashford were the ones who carried us the most to that Europa trophy, not only Mkhi.

 

[edn33]

JM's fall from grace is most probably due to the departure of his grand disciple Rui Farina.

When they were together --> they were a dominant force.

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

JM's fall from grace is most probably due to the departure of his grand disciple Rui Farina.

When they were together --> they were a dominant force.

Even at Chelsea and Real Madrid with Rui Faria around, Jose still failed in his 3rd season.

 

[In Rainbows]

Even ETH can’t seem to make it work with Martial and if Pogba was actually still here on a fresh long new and expensive deal what a disaster that would be. Finally got another bit of luck there.

Ten Hag doesn't have a problem with Martial, other than he's injured a lot. On the pitch, he would still be a starter because like Anthony, even when they're not having their best games, they still bring something positive to the team. In Martial's case, he is able to bring others into play by turning with the ball after receiving it with his back facing the defender.

For DDG. It was the single biggest carry job a keeper has ever done over a league campaign.

This.

United conceded the most shots on target, and created the least amount of chances of the top 6. It's clear de Gea was the reason why we got 2nd. And the gk position is the one where the manager should not get credit from, unless they somehow force them to work with their feet and be more involved, which Mou did not.

 

[Strelok]

Dier

Thank God we didn't buy that guy. A tree can be even more useful than him.

 

[Sir Erik ten Hag]

Thank God we didn't buy that guy. A tree can be even more useful than him.

You forgot Willian and Perisic duo.

 

[Strelok]

You forgot Willian and Perisic duo.

Contrary to popular belief I actually rate both especially Perisic. Willian can be a bit brain dead but he also can have brilliant moments, a bit rare though. Perisic imo is a very decent player and very versatile.

 

[Lemoor]

Contrary to popular belief I actually rate both especially Perisic. Willian can be a bit brain dead but he also can have brilliant moments, a bit rare though. Perisic imo is a very decent player and very versatile.

Both were good players, but never for the massive fees, wages and long term contracts that they would require at that point.

 

[Handré1990]

Who the feck cares?

Exactly, good riddance!

 

[Strelok]

Both were good players, but never for the massive fees, wages and long term contracts that they would require at that point.

Agree.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

With all due respect to the OP, this is stupid and revisionist thread.

A great manager should be able to get the best out of any talented player, I bet Ten Hag would get Pogba playing properly within a structure and a defined style, Martial has been injured too much but there were signs that show us Ten Hag getting Martial playing well.


Jose lost his touch with players when he came to us so I wouldn't trust his judgment, i mean the fella thought Shaw played without brains!

 

[norm87cro]

Mourhino IS right about a lot of things. The man knows his craft. Its just his general attitude that rubs people the wrong way

 

[fergiewherearethou]

Mourinho was toxic and it was obvious it wasn't going to last, he still brought us 2 trophies, exactly what we expected from him.
He fell out with players at Chelsea and Real at some point so it's no surprise what happened at Utd.
What's the point of digging up our dark past when we have a bright future ahead?

 

[fallengt]

He also created his own problems. Hindered Shaw, Rashford, Martial' development with his dinosaur tactic and his solution was signing more 30 years old players

 

[meamth]

Still can't forget his pragmatic approach as a United manager.

He was the problem.

 

[NewGlory]

Fact: Mourinho was the most qualified and successful manager that we've had after Sir Alex retired.

- EFL Cup win
- Europa League win (the only European trophy we've won since Sir Alex)
- FA Cup final
- Finished second

Fact: His style and personality were never going to suit United, but he was the most experienced manager we've had after Sir Alex and he achieved a lot results-wise. Would have achieved even more if Glazers didn't undercut him in the Summer transfer window before his sacking

It may have been a mistake to hire him but Glazers did it because they wanted a quick success and he did the best he could. No need to be ungrateful or disrespectful

 

[Withnail]

Seems a pointless bump

 

[roonster09]

Seems a pointless bump

Looks like Jose had some free time.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Kind of related - but the other day I did see a clip of Mourinho discussing Alonso's potential as a manager. It was from a number of years ago but he correctly predicted that Alonso would be a top manager. Should get Mourinho back on Sky.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Fact: Mourinho was the most qualified and successful manager that we've had after Sir Alex retired.

- EFL Cup win
- Europa League win (the only European trophy we've won since Sir Alex)
- FA Cup final
- Finished second

Fact: His style and personality were never going to suit United, but he was the most experienced manager we've had after Sir Alex and he achieved a lot results-wise. Would have achieved even more if Glazers didn't undercut him in the Summer transfer window before his sacking

It may have been a mistake to hire him but Glazers did it because they wanted a quick success and he did the best he could. No need to be ungrateful or disrespectful

Whilst it’s true we gave up on him in that summer window it’s also true he was never the right fit. So it was correct we did not back him but wrong that Woodward bottled sacking him that summer when the toys came out of the pram. The wrong hire in general.

 

[JPRouve]

Whilst it’s true we gave up on him in that summer window it’s also true he was never the right fit. So it was correct we did not back him but wrong that Woodward bottled sacking him that summer when the toys came out of the pram. The wrong hire in general.

It's not actually true that we gave up on him that summer. First he got Sanchez six months earlier, we increased our wage bill under him by more than 50%(from around 215m to 320m-330m) and we were paying previous transfer bills that summer. People keep making that point as if the club randomly decided to not spend when in reality the club was spending that summer and every other, the thing is that if you spend big on transfer fees and also allocate a lot more money on wages then your future spending power is reduced.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It's not actually true that we gave up on him that summer. First he got Sanchez six months earlier, we increased our wage bill under him by more than 50%(from around 215m to 320m-330m) and we were paying previous transfer bills that summer. People keep making that point as if the club randomly decided to not spend when in reality the club was spending that summer and every other, the thing is that if you spend big on transfer fees and also allocate a lot more money on wages then your future spending power is reduced.

I think it’s very hard to argue that he/we/the club didn’t know there would need to be serious investment if we were to close a very large points gap. We 100% gave up on him that summer but Woodward didn’t want to pay him off. He was sulking from day 1 that season, there was a horrible vibe around us and on here everyone was basically saying he’s waiting to get sacked and get his payday.

 

[JPRouve]

I think it’s very hard to argue that he/we/the club didn’t know there would need to be serious investment if we were to close a very large points gap. We 100% gave up on him that summer but Woodward didn’t want to pay him off. He was sulking from day 1 that season, there was a horrible vibe around us and on here everyone was basically saying he’s waiting to get sacked and get his payday.

None of that makes any sense. The club didn't have more available funds because that money was spent for Mourinho's requests. Repeating falsehoods won't make them true, needing serious investments doesn't mean that you have the means to make serious investments and not spending what you don't have doesn't mean that you gave up on anyone, it just means that you don't have an endless supply of money.

Also the reason we struggled during his last season was because his main signings were absolutely terrible(mainly Lukaku, Sanchez and Matic), it wasn't due to a special need for investments. And also because he was himself terrible at his job.

 

[DRJosh]

I’d welcome Mourinho back with open arms. Toxic or not he set up the team to play to win.

 

[roonster09]

I’d welcome Mourinho back with open arms. Toxic or not he set up the team to play to win.

Every manager set up the team to win, especially the top 6-8 clubs.

 

[Hammondo]

Whilst it’s true we gave up on him in that summer window it’s also true he was never the right fit. So it was correct we did not back him but wrong that Woodward bottled sacking him that summer when the toys came out of the pram. The wrong hire in general.

There was never a "right fit".

 

[Oranges038]

Jose should never have been hired.

I’d welcome Mourinho back with open arms. Toxic or not he set up the team to play to win.

Should never have been let in the door once, never mind a second time.

 

[The Corinthian]

Mourinho should have been the first name after Fergie.

He had the personality and charisma to enact strong change post Fergie.

 

[JPRouve]

Mourinho should have been the first name after Fergie.

He had the personality and charisma to enact strong change post Fergie.

Mourinho isn't a manager, he is a head coach and has zero skills that should lead any club to let hom enact strong changes because everything he does is for his own short term interest which can be a good thing if your club has strong foundations but will be disastrous if it doesn't.

The only type of head coach or manager that would have been ideal following SAF was someone selfess that would be ready to put the club first instead of himself, those people are very rare. Even today there is maybe Ancelotti among top head coaches and he has zero experience as a manager.

 

[Wilt]

He‘s still the only manager since SAF who gave me the feeling we‘re back to competing at top level.