Is Jose Mourinho still our best manager post Fergie?

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Champagne Football

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The Jose way is the cowardly charlatan way. We bought fools gold from a snake oil salesman. Spend vast fortunes on ageing grandad players, to win a few shit cups, while playing shit football, ignoring the youth etc

Success at Man Utd for post-Fergie managers should be measured by how many kids you've turned into stars, by how many struggling players you've transformed, by the style of football you play, and how many times you've qualified for the champions league, whether by top 4 or EL victories.

I'm guessing in around a year from now, Ole's long term vision will finally start to bear some real fruit when the likes of Garner, Diallo and Mejbri start to become stars, in an already impressive team hopefully.
 

SAFMUTD

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The Jose way is the cowardly charlatan way. We bought fools gold from a snake oil salesman. Spend vast fortunes on ageing grandad players, to win a few shit cups, while playing shit football, ignoring the youth etc

Success at Man Utd for post-Fergie managers should be measured by how many kids you've turned into stars, by how many struggling players you've transformed, by the style of football you play, and how many times you've qualified for the champions league, whether by top 4 or EL victories.

I'm guessing in around a year from now, Ole's long term vision will finally start to bear some real fruit when the likes of Garner, Diallo and Mejbri start to become stars, in an already impressive team hopefully.
What? Absolute nonsense.

Success should be measured on big trophies.

FA cup and specially Europa league are dummy trophies, not even worth mentioning really.

None of our coaches post Fergie has been successful, Moyes was a disaster, LVG was boring as hell and set us back even further, Mourinho was toxic, Ole stopped the free fall of the club but has stabilized on mediocrity. There's no "best manager" when all are dross.

Until, hopefully, Ole wins a major title meaning Premier League or Champions League we can't talk about him being a successful manager no matter how many kids he turns into stars, how many struggling players he helps and how many times he gets top 4.
 

Knux

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He spent over 400 million and somehow managed to make the squad worse and less attractive type of play. There’s a reason he will be in Italy’s 6th best club next season. So this is a silly thread all around.
 

lysglimt

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Mourinho basically ruined the club and left us with a bunch of unhappy, incompetent players which it would take any manager years and tons of money to rectify. If that is worth a league cup trophy and a Europa League trophy - well then he was our best manager.

When you look at where we are today - most managers in the world would glee at the prospect of taking over United, when Mourinho was fired - most managers wouldn't even go near the club.
 

lysglimt

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Definitely.

- Won the Europa League
- Won the League Cup
- Reached FA Cup Final
- Reached Champions League Quarter finals
- 2nd place in Premier League and highest points total
- Despite being more defensive, it took a 9-0 victory over Southampton to score more goals this season (we scored 5 more this season)
- Best defensive record by far
And he only did it by almost bankrupting the club and leaving us with crap squad - I hope you thought those 2 trophies were worth it
 

Wibble

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What? Absolute nonsense.

Success should be measured on big trophies.

FA cup and specially Europa league are dummy trophies, not even worth mentioning really.

None of our coaches post Fergie has been successful, Moyes was a disaster, LVG was boring as hell and set us back even further, Mourinho was toxic, Ole stopped the free fall of the club but has stabilized on mediocrity. There's no "best manager" when all are dross.

Until, hopefully, Ole wins a major title meaning Premier League or Champions League we can't talk about him being a successful manager no matter how many kids he turns into stars, how many struggling players he helps and how many times he gets top 4.
I care far more about us playing exciting football with lots of young/United developed players included than I do about winning the Champions League. Trophies are great but they should be the result of playing football the United way. Ole may or may not bring great success but he is the only post-SAF manager who should have been anywhere near the club.
 

SAFMUTD

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I care far more about us playing exciting football with lots of young/United developed players included than I do about winning the Champions League. Trophies are great but they should be the result of playing football the United way. Ole may or may not bring great success but he is the only post-SAF manager who should have been anywhere near the club.
I think you'd really like Athletic Bilbao, they play mostly with players from their academy. Many youngsters each season, fairly good football all things considered, they don't win much but under your parameters they'll be world champions each single season.
 

Wibble

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I think you'd really like Athletic Bilbao, they play mostly with players from their academy. Many youngsters each season, fairly good football all things considered, they don't win much but under your parameters they'll be world champions each single season.
Exactly the same thing. Well done.
 

RedDevil@84

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Pretty much yes.
Europa, League Cup and a 2nd place finish to a City team way ahead of the one we had this season.
These were fine achievements for the team that has struggled after SAF left.

It was only a half cooked Jose football of the past.
The football was boring. Some players were confused.
There was an aim of defending as a team (a necessary evil with overall average quality of the team, I would argue)
It was Jose. So there was expected drama like confrontation with players, controversies and media witch-hunt.
As expected, it all ended with a dreadful team spirit and usual Jose disrespectfulness.

Overall, thank you Jose for whatever little was done. Don't want you back ever.
 

Jules_T

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Look at the mess he has left behind him at the club's he has managed in the last decade.

The world has moved past Jose. He has failed to evolve. I think even he knows it.
 

Nou_Camp99

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He won two trophies (in a season we finished 6th lets not forget) so statistically he's our best manager since Fergie. Has the best CV too.

However he did more damage to us than good. We are well rid of him and he's only got worse since leaving too. His time at Spurs was an utter disaster compared to with us.
 

Raveneye

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We scored so many BS goals hoofing it to him.
The Jose way is the cowardly charlatan way. We bought fools gold from a snake oil salesman. Spend vast fortunes on ageing grandad players, to win a few shit cups, while playing shit football, ignoring the youth etc

Success at Man Utd for post-Fergie managers should be measured by how many kids you've turned into stars, by how many struggling players you've transformed, by the style of football you play, and how many times you've qualified for the champions league, whether by top 4 or EL victories.

I'm guessing in around a year from now, Ole's long term vision will finally start to bear some real fruit when the likes of Garner, Diallo and Mejbri start to become stars, in an already impressive team hopefully.
These are the long term and process-related factors that deserve more weight from those who look to trophies alone and then congratulate themselves for having figured out how a football club works.

Whether or not Ole can ultimately succeed at Manchester United, he took management of the club when we were at our lowest and has dragged us back into a place where elite managers would salivate at taking the reigns.
 

SAFMUTD

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These are the long term and process-related factors that deserve more weight from those who look to trophies alone and then congratulate themselves for having figured out how a football club works.

Whether or not Ole can ultimately succeed at Manchester United, he took management of the club when we were at our lowest and has dragged us back into a place where elite managers would salivate at taking the reigns.
Elite managers are salivating? We are in a better place than when Mourinho left there's no doubt about that. But I think you are overreacting a little.
 

Raveneye

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Elite managers are salivating? We are in a better place than when Mourinho left there's no doubt about that. But I think you are overreacting a little.
If the board wanted to fire Ole and get Poch or Tuchel at the points when they were last available, do you think they would have said yes? And if so, would that yes have been given or as enthusiastically given when Morinho was fired?
 

Kag

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The worst by a country mile.

It’s taken us nearly three years to get close to sorting the squad out as a result of this poisonous bastard’s disastrous tenure.

A couple of tinpot titles doesn’t cut it for me.
 

Revan

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He is, but LVG and Ole were mediocre while Moyes was horrible. Not a tall order, all things considered.
 

SAFMUTD

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If the board wanted to fire Ole and get Poch or Tuchel at the points when they were last available, do you think they would have said yes? And if so, would that yes have been given or as enthusiastically given when Morinho was fired?
I think it wouldnt have made a difference really. But its hard to know, of course we are in a better position right now than what we were but as I said I dont think managers are "salivating" to manage us.

They're salivating to manage City and Bayern for example. All the other top clubs are among the same bracket, except obviously for Madrid and Barca that have that "prestige" that pulls a lot of managers.
 

hobbers

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Success at Man Utd for post-Fergie managers should be measured by how many kids you've turned into stars, by how many struggling players you've transformed, by the style of football you play, and how many times you've qualified for the champions league, whether by top 4 or EL victories.
This level of delusion is just depressing to see.

Success is winning titles, there's no other metric. Merely qualifying for the CL regularly means jack fecking shit unless your name is Joel and Avram Glazer. Nobody but a Glazer stooge would accept this backwards philosophy. Ole for one most certainly would not accept it. And what good is qualifying for the CL if the club then goes on to embarrass itself with insipid group stage CL performances.


A couple of tinpot titles doesn’t cut it for me.
Beats choking in all the tinpot title semi finals.
 

Raveneye

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I think it wouldnt have made a difference really. But its hard to know, of course we are in a better position right now than what we were but as I said I dont think managers are "salivating" to manage us.

They're salivating to manage City and Bayern for example. All the other top clubs are among the same bracket, except obviously for Madrid and Barca that have that "prestige" that pulls a lot of managers.
Given the financial states of RM and Barca now, especially Barca, I gotta wonder about their appeal. Their success has been built lately on an unsustainable model that's going to at best seriously hinder their ability to buy players for the foreseeable future.
 

Champagne Football

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Success is winning titles, there's no other metric.
Complete nonsense.
Finishing in the top 4 is a greater achievement than winning the FA Cup or League Cup.
Finishing in the top 4 is that same level of achievement as winning the Europa League.
Finishing in the top 4 while succeeding in turning kids from your academy into superstars at the same time, is a far greater achievement than spending hundreds of millions on players with only one or two good years left in them, while winning the Europa League and FA Cup in the same season.

Man Utd has a different financial reality to our sugar daddy rivals. Man Utd is a club that needs to have a 4 year plan every time we want to fight for the league and Champions League. A 4 year plan where the squad will peak when 2 or 3 kids from the academy will start to mature, while mixing this with some shrewd signings and some World class signings.

We have not been able to attract the world's best managers or players since Fergie quit, apart from once in a blue moon like our rivals have been able to do, so right now it's a case of bringing in the world's best kids and being patient with them.

It's nonsense to think we can challenge every year this day in age, considering the spending power of some of our rivals. This is not the 90's anymore. I'm confident Ole is going in the right direction, and I feel if we have a good summer, then next year we can make a real go of it. If Ole can't get the best out of what we've got in a year or two, then replace him with Marco Rose or someone like that.
 

JebelSherif

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What? Absolute nonsense.

Success should be measured on big trophies.

FA cup and specially Europa league are dummy trophies, not even worth mentioning really.

None of our coaches post Fergie has been successful, Moyes was a disaster, LVG was boring as hell and set us back even further, Mourinho was toxic, Ole stopped the free fall of the club but has stabilized on mediocrity. There's no "best manager" when all are dross.

Until, hopefully, Ole wins a major title meaning Premier League or Champions League we can't talk about him being a successful manager no matter how many kids he turns into stars, how many struggling players he helps and how many times he gets top 4.
Respectfully, you must be a younger person... the F.A. Cup is historically important and when I was a kid, it was the only live TV match we got to see in a year (unless it was a World Cup year). It meant everything, it should still mean everything - it is not a 'dummy trophy'.

Sadly, for financial reasons, getting top-4 is now more important than the FA Cup, but tell that to Leicester fans! I bet the board & the owners, would have preferred a loss in the Cup and a top-4 finish*. But not the fans.... It was great to see them beat Chelsea - almost as good as that unreal 2016, please do not disparage the FA Cup, its important.

I realise I am taking a risk here, but the gradual decline of the importance of the FA Cup can be traced back to one year and one club - Man Utd in 1999. That should never have happened, they should have stayed in it and played the kids, it was a very, very poor decision and I know Sir Alex later regretted it:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/dec/02/ferguson-regret-fa-cup

*Actually, maybe not in Leicester's case, their ownership is pretty much the envy of most clubs and their recent cup win had more importance to the family than CL and top-4, they can always do that in the future. Lucky Keppa Arrizabalaga is only 5ft 7"!

P.S. If the winners of the FA Cup got a CL place - perhaps instead of 4th, things might be very different.... I would advocate that.
 

SAFMUTD

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Respectfully, you must be a younger person... the F.A. Cup is historically important and when I was a kid, it was the only live TV match we got to see in a year (unless it was a World Cup year). It meant everything, it should still mean everything - it is not a 'dummy trophy'.

Sadly, for financial reasons, getting top-4 is now more important than the FA Cup, but tell that to Leicester fans! I bet the board & the owners, would have preferred a loss in the Cup and a top-4 finish*. But not the fans.... It was great to see them beat Chelsea - almost as good as that unreal 2016, please do not disparage the FA Cup, its important.

I realise I am taking a risk here, but the gradual decline of the importance of the FA Cup can be traced back to one year and one club - Man Utd in 1999. That should never have happened, they should have stayed in it and played the kids, it was a very, very poor decision and I know Sir Alex later regretted it:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/dec/02/ferguson-regret-fa-cup

*Actually, maybe not in Leicester's case, their ownership is pretty much the envy of most clubs and their recent cup win had more importance to the family than CL and top-4, they can always do that in the future. Lucky Keppa Arrizabalaga is only 5ft 7"!

P.S. If the winners of the FA Cup got a CL place - perhaps instead of 4th, things might be very different.... I would advocate that.
I do think the FA cup is way more important than the EL cup. For a start in the EL you don't face any really top teams besides the ones that already failed in the UCL. So it's a losers vs middle tier teams cup, no real prestige for top clubs there in my opinion.

FA cup is better but it's not a top title, the fact that clubs use substitutes to play there says it all. It's not a real priority, better than the league cup but still below the league and obviously the champions league.

I do agree that giving the FA cup winner a direct ticket to the UCL would improve the tournament.
 

redshaw

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Technically yes but we paid a high price. The Europa win was also a necessity after coming sixth with a big spend and coming 5th the year before.

All four managers have been poor, we haven't advanced much and it's looking to be just as difficult to match the oil clubs in being contenders whether sporadically like Chelsea or all the time like City. Our recruitment all round has not been not good enough, the money spent since Fergie should've yielded better outcomes, it's quite a failing by those who have run the club and made the appointments.

Unless Ole can fast track himself and keep learning I don't see us bridging the gap. Also seems as though the big spending will increase at Chelsea and City
 
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Roane

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I'm not a fan of Mourinho, never have been. Never bought into the special one rubbish either.

Loved LVG as a person, not so much as what was happening on the pitch.

Not overly a fan of Ole the manager, big fan of Ole the player.

That said I think these comparisons are futile and the thing often missing from the discussions is the remit a manager has. This in itself puts a different slant on what the club or fans see as success.

SAF left us a winning team. Yet if we are honest we must acknowledge the squad he left wasn't great. Even less so without the great man's influence. I believe teams playing us with SAF as manager often lost the game before kick off. He was that good IMHO.

Moyes cane in and tbf to him he had pressure to succeed straight away with a team that were reigning champions. However if you accept the above as even slightly viable you must know that any manager following SAF was going to struggle. I think LVG initially would have been the better option simply as he was only looking for a shirt term role.

LVG came in and again there was a glamour for success. His buying likes of schweiny and even di maria was about getting back to the top. It didn't work out. Did maria for Jon footballing reasons. Falcao was no better a signing than ighalo or even Cavani, but obviously Cavani gamble has paid off.

Mourinho came in and again it was about winning trophies where ever he goes. Signings like Zlatan are no different to LVG attempts and even Ole with Cavani.

I personally think the remit if winning was put on hold with the signing of Ole. Not least because of the mentioned wages and pay structure but also the "traditions and UTD way" type arguments.

I for one never saw us winning anything much with Ole. I only ever saw him as a stability manager. And again maybe he would have been better after SAF with the acknowledgement that this was all about taking a couple of seasons to take stock and plan properly.

Glazers and Woodward didn't help and I think losing Gill with SAF and Moyes getting rid of evra, Rio etc was a travesty. But again I can see why Moyes may have felt he needed a fresh start. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

In my mind there is no doubt that Ole won't take us to the promised land. He just hasn't got the personality for me. But I think he has exceeded my expectations of him. He has bought stability and he has imo set us up for someone to take us to the next level. I would love for him to stay on as assistant manager or something like that.

Trophy wide Mourinho has been best but I think he was the one with whom we were aiming for the big trophies not the B list ones. Ole winning a B list trophy would have been an exceeding of his remit imo. I would let him have his contract but unless he turns us into something amazing I wouldn't look to give him an extension, we need to move up a step as a club now we have stability and a good vibe around the place. There is always the risk of going back two steps but that is a risk we as a club have always got to take.

I'm sure some will disagree and that's cool. These are just my thoughts and not necessarily the right ones. But opinions hey?
 

jeepers

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He bought feckin Alexis Sanchez, who was already done at Arsenal, on huge wages.

Now that we lost the UEL final so wimpily, would y’all have preferred to beat that UCL Turkish team and qualify for the last 16, then probably exiting UCL OR making it all the way to the UEL final then bottling it?

Ultimately, whoever who decided on the managers after Moyes messed up.
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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I don't understand how people can possibly believe Mourinho has been the best of our post SAF managers, unless they really put that much stock into a fluke Europa run and a smoke and mirrors 2nd place finish?
- The league is as good as it's ever been, as evidenced by the UCL final we just watched, and we comfortably strolled to a 2nd place finish this year that could have been quite a bit better if we weren't completely devoid of any prolific forwards at the start of the season.
- We easily play a better style of football, as even in our most negative games we still counter very effectively and in the majority of games we try to attack the opposition. With Jose we played just as his other recent teams have, setting up shop and defending for 80% of the game and hoping to nick a goal or two.
- We've recruited and developed players better than he ever did.
- The squad is much healthier from a deadwood perspective, and our options off the bench don't just consist of Fellaini to hoof it to

Yes Ole has failed in some big cup competitions (although I would like people to pick a side, you can't just blame only the manager or only the players for a failure, it's a mixture of both generally with it shading towards the players), and it's to be seen if he can really take the next step in going head to head with the best of Europe. But right now we are a good summer away from finding that out, whereas with Jose majority on the caf thought we were years away from getting back to this level.

This thread is purely reactionary shite stemming from our (understandable) frustrations from losing the EL final, and wouldn't exist except for that.
 

el3mel

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He bought feckin Alexis Sanchez, who was already done at Arsenal, on huge wages.

Now that we lost the UEL final so wimpily, would y’all have preferred to beat that UCL Turkish team and qualify for the last 16, then probably exiting UCL OR making it all the way to the UEL final then bottling it?

Ultimately, whoever who decided on the managers after Moyes messed up.
Of course I would take progressing in CL over even winning EL. A team like United should always be in CL KO stages playing against other top teams.
 

acnumber9

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The league is as good as it's ever been, as evidenced by the UCL final we just watched,
It really isn’t. The Man United, Chelsea or Arsenal teams aren’t a patch on the teams of ten years ago. It’s arguable if Liverpool are. Spurs are the worst they’ve been in about 8 years as well.
 

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Of course he is. It doesn't surprise me that people can't accept that though. Football fans can be very emotional about these things.

It's a weird logic to argue we had a worse team playing worse football than now and then at the same time say he wasn't better despite actual trophies.

If Ole actually gets some results from this so called progress then will be the time we can claim he's better.
 

Buster15

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Of course he is. It doesn't surprise me that people can't accept that though. Football fans can be very emotional about these things.

It's a weird logic to argue we had a worse team playing worse football than now and then at the same time say he wasn't better despite actual trophies.

If Ole actually gets some results from this so called progress then will be the time we can claim he's better.
Exactly that.
His record confirms it.
Like many, I detested how it ended up, because it was a missed opportunity for both sides. And it was only going to end one way.
Comparing the negativity and hatred Jose endured from our supporters, Ole gets away with murder.
 

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Andrew7582

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You can say what you want about Jose but trophies are trophies, Jose 3 - 0 Ole. The Ajax team we beat in 16/17 were at least as good as Villareal if not better. The only thing this season will be remembered for is us bottling the europa league final, no-one will care that we finished second in years to come.
 

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Jose is a better manager only if you go by cup victories. In the league Jose has delivered - 6th, 2nd and 6th. Ole has got us 3rd and 2nd in the last two seasons. Given United need to be consistently in actual big competitions, the importance of the league performances trump by far Ole failing in semi and finals in various cups until now.

And as a fan I honestly prefer the likes of Bruno, Cavani, Greenwood, Rashford and Martial strutting about and often destroying the opposition of the day, rather than Fellaini's chest control and DDG's goal keeping being our key weapon to scrap through 1-0s.
 

Champagne Football

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Jose will continue to make childish jibes to try and stay relevant, but the truth is that he oversaw a disastrous reign at Man Utd, left the club and playing staff in a very dangerous state.

He spent £90 million on Matic and Alexis, 2 players with litteraly 3 months left at the top in their legs. He desperately wanted to spend another £150 million on Willian, Peresic and Jerome Boateng, 3 players with only a few months left in their legs at the top.

If we had have become a new Leeds Utd under his watch - financially ruined for 20 years languishing mid-table in The Championship for the next 2 decades, he'd have laughed it off, claiming it was all Ed's fault for signing the cheques.

Ole and Bruno have singlehandedly saved the club from ruin. Ole desperately wanted Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham, but club policy meant we couldn't buy them when they were for sale for peanuts.

If Ole can turn the likes of Diallo, Garner and Mejbri into superstars through patient development, then he will win trophies for sure.
 

Halftrack

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Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho believes expectations at the club have dropped since his departure from Old Trafford

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...e-mourinho-manchester-united-verdict-20772193

“Another season” – Mourinho takes a swipe at Man United and Solskjaer

https://weallfollowunited.com/2021/...nho-fires-a-fresh-salvo-at-manchester-united/
The bitter utterances of a washed-up has-been. Calls finishing 2nd with us one of his greatest achievements, but when Ole does it it's "a bad season."

Meanwhile, neither the current manager nor the current captain has called it a good season. I think both have said things to the opposite actually. But hey, Mourinho's gonna Mourinho.
 

Ali Dia

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Jose was spending more than any other PL manager at the time and all while falling out with everyone for the privilege. Crap pragmatic football given the outlay and all that doom and gloom. He pretty much bought a whole new team that didn’t click and then he fell out with them. Won the EL with the most expensive squad in the history of the competition. His signings were a mixed bag and we were on a hiding to nothing with his squad building. There was no identity. We were like a crap version of Chelsea.The players were gone and it sounded like morale was as poor as it’s ever been. The main problem is us though. It takes us far too long to cut our losses and turn over the squad even when it’s clear a player isn’t the right one or has run their course.

Ole has trimmed it back and made a pathway for youth and some new signings while keeping us decently competitive. The continued emphasis on youth is a plus and will surely stand to us. We need a serious boost in quality in the first 11 and in the coaching to challenge but I think this is slowly still going in a better direction long term. At least you can clearly see what we need again these days…. Whether we go get it done or not is another matter altogether but for me It’s more sustainable and in line with what made us a success in the first place.

Any new manager can slot in and work efficiently in this setup if the glazers step aside from transfers and give a set budget to Murtough and co. Unfortunately I can’t see that happening when there’s big money to potentially be saved on deals and that’s what will continue to hold us up and frustrate managers and fans for a long time yet. It’s always been the elephant in the room. They don’t really know what they are at when it comes to football recruitment and squad building but they seem to be heavily involved. Business meh. I don’t see anything special about us as a business. What have they done that’s been innovative since the buy out?
 
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