Is Mou still 'The Special One' for you all?

[Womp]

He's still the right man for the job. Anyone saying otherwise needs to give their heads a wobble.

Some of his decisions have baffled and frustrated me. Mainly the constant moaning of fixture congestion yet the refusal to rest certain players. Ibrahimovic being undroppable is also frustrating but he clearly lacks faith in Rooney/Rashford/Martial to lead the line. And I agree with people who say he seems to have lost some of his aura which made him a formidable manager earlier in his career, certainly in the big games.

That said, he is our 3rd manager in 4 years. We cannot keep chopping and changing and letting the players get away with it. You cannot blame Mourinho for the pathetic finishing we have seen all season. He has set up a team that has consistently created chances this season, it's then the forward players' job to put the ball in the net. Our conversion rate is awful. Even Ibra, for all his plaudits, has a distinctly average conversion rate compared to other forwards in Europe.

This place is a joke though. Full of spoilt, impatient, football manager playing fans who think rebuilding a football club is a one season job after 3 years of dross. Some of you should hang your heads in shame. The same people would have called for Fergie's head long before he won his first trophy

Well said, but unfortunately it'll fall on deaf ears. This stuff has been repeated many a time but some people just don't like Jose so their opinions of the whole situation are skewed because of that. He could win us the treble and some on here would be disappointed he had to spend so much money to achieve it, that's just the state of things unfortunately.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Yeah I don't blame him for us missing so many chances in our home games.

Fans want mangers out so fast now, I find that annoying

It's literally unbelievable. He's not even been here a while season and he's won us a trophy already!!

It's there for all to see that things have got better in terms of play style. Ok we have had some poor draws but in those games we should have won but we lacked the finishing. We are 19 unbeaten (draws i know) as well which must count for something?

 

[ivaldo]

Modern day football fans seem to want instant success. How about we give him more than 3/4 season before deeming one of the most accomplished manager in the game isn't up to scratch?

He took over a mishmash squad of players made up of signings from 3 different managers who all played the game differently, and many of which were unsuited to how Jose wants to play.

He's become the first United manager to win silverware in his first season, we are on a 19 game unbeaten run (comfortably the best in Europe) and the level of entertainment is on another level compared to previous seasons. His arrival has also made the club an attractive proposition for players again. They actually want to play for Jose, could really have said that for LVG and Moyes?

The draws are frustrating but I think it reflects on the respect we've won back as much as anything. Teams used to rock up at OT and fancied taking three points off us, it's just not the case any longer.

There's still plenty of room for improvement but it's plain to see we are heading in the right direction.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Of course he is

 

[Schmiznurf]

we were winning....with those glaring weakness in our staff. I still wonder how we would have fared if Fergie had the budget that LvG, Moyes and Jose has.



Really? How long is patient enough for you? Put a figure to it....start from the last time we last won the league.

I think giving a manager long enough to get the squad where he wants it and see how he performs then is patient enough.

 

[MAME DIOUF 32]

I think he remains an excellent manager but I'm concerned about how little he's getting out of some of our best players. I

 

[Paxi]

The best manager in the world so yeah pretty special.

 

[#07]

Yes

 

[sugar_kane]

Doubts creep in from time to time and I don't think we see enough of the real Jose but I'm overall confident he's the right one for us, in fact he puts it better than I could in this new interview (from about 7:50)


"If they don't trust me who can they trust"

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He's still the right man for the job. Anyone saying otherwise needs to give their heads a wobble.

Some of his decisions have baffled and frustrated me. Mainly the constant moaning of fixture congestion yet the refusal to rest certain players. Ibrahimovic being undroppable is also frustrating but he clearly lacks faith in Rooney/Rashford/Martial to lead the line. And I agree with people who say he seems to have lost some of his aura which made him a formidable manager earlier in his career, certainly in the big games.

That said, he is our 3rd manager in 4 years. We cannot keep chopping and changing and letting the players get away with it. You cannot blame Mourinho for the pathetic finishing we have seen all season. He has set up a team that has consistently created chances this season, it's then the forward players' job to put the ball in the net. Our conversion rate is awful. Even Ibra, for all his plaudits, has a distinctly average conversion rate compared to other forwards in Europe.

This place is a joke though. Full of spoilt, impatient, football manager playing fans who think rebuilding a football club is a one season job after 3 years of dross. Some of you should hang your heads in shame. The same people would have called for Fergie's head long before he won his first trophy

That's incorrect. I think he deserves time based on his record and consider him the best alternative we had, but whether he is the right man for the job will be proven by what he achieves here. If Pep or Jose fail miserably at City or United then they'll prove to be wrong men for the job, even if we wanted Jose here and City fans wanted Pep there.

I was happy with the appointment but I dont like the idea that everyone has to bow down to the idea of him being perfect for us.

 

[Minimalist]

That's incorrect. I think he deserves time based on his record and consider him the best alternative we had, but whether he is the right man for the job will be proven by what he achieves here. If Pep or Jose fail miserably at City or United then they'll prove to be wrong men for the job, even if we wanted Jose here and City fans wanted Pep there.

I was happy with the appointment but I dont like the idea that everyone has to bow down to the idea of him being perfect for us.

That seems to be the narrative we all have to buy into now on this forum.

Back Jose 100% or you're an enemy. It's pretty similar to RAWK in my view.

I personally wanted Mourinho and I was also calling for Van Gaal to go. I just so happen to be maintaining an objective view on how the season has gone - I'm not suddenly going to let Mourinho away with the same problems and responsibilities that people (including myself) levelled at Van Gaal.

The idea that everything is down to crap players is pretty amateurish analysis to me.

 

[TheBiggest]

He has made us desperately difficult to beat. That's a great starting point. Once we can bring fluidity to our attack, and I've no doubt Mourinho will address that in the summer - we will be challenging for the title.

The very basics of a great team are already in place.

 

[FredeDK]

Yes he is - should have been "the choosen one" instead of David Moyes.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

He never was, for me personally. I've not particularly liked him throughout his managerial career. But I also knew that we needed him, or someone of his calibre, of which there are not a very many, and those who are at his calibre are spoken for.

He's our manager, and I support him. I don't want him to be The Special One. I think titles like that are garbage, and we've looked silly after giving Moyes one. But I have faith in Mourinho, even though I'm not his biggest fan. I also think that should we finish 5th or 6th and not win the Europa, I think he should get what Moyes and LvG didn't get - Another chance.

The longer we meander around 4th, 5th, 6th position, the bigger the job gets. The harder it gets, and the likelihood of objectives being met in the first season becomes slimmer. The United job now is different to the one Moyes was gifted. Moyes had to maintain continuity and a winning mentality of a team of Champions. He failed miserably. From the outside, it looked like LvG completely removed any sort of confidence, belief and guile the team had, and sucked any joy there was out of watching United. Both managers seemed to mentally obliterate all beneath them. Mourinho's job was to tidy that up, and make the players believe again. Even he said the job would be easier if he bought 20-odd new players. Quite possibly because this lot have been Van Gaal'd. A select few were unfortunate enough to be both Van Gaal'd and Moyes'd.

I also think that should he be sacked for not winning the Arsenal Trophy, who on earth replaces him? Name that world class manager with a history of success under the enormous expectations of giant football clubs who is available? I don't think there is one. Mourinho is currently the best man for the job, and he fills that criteria.


The draws are annoying, but at least it's not because we don't even try to win, like under LvG. The chances are being created, risks are being taken and we are making opposition goalkeepers work hard. Under LvG, we drew because players were forbidden from relinquishing possession, and reportedly even from taking a shot with their first touch. What I do like is that we simply don't seem to lose football matches. We invite a bit of pressure sometimes, but we rarely look like losing, and we rarely do lose. I think that is a decent platform. If that can bring us the Europa League trophy, I'd be happy with finishing 5th and I'd call that a successful season.

 

[VeevaVee]

He's not been perfect, but that's to be expected, and not just because it's Jose.

He needs to sort out almost all the areas on the pitch (possibly including gk this summer if rumours are to be believed), so it's not going to happen in one season.
It's very silly that him leaving is even coming up.

 

[Randall Flagg]

I find his attitute and man management to be very questionable. And I dont see him as the same guy we saw initially at chelsea 10 years ago.

But I actully expect him to turn it around next season. Not by being a great coach and manager but by throwing more money that has ever been seen at a football club and basically buying his way to success


Muppets will rejoice. And in fairness so will I, but wont stop me thinking he is a cnut.

 

[JPRouve]

He is a top tier manager but he isn't special among his peers.

 

[roonster09]

I find his attitute and man management to be very questionable. And I dont see him as the same guy we saw initially at chelsea 10 years ago.

But I actully expect him to turn it around next season. Not by being a great coach and manager but by throwing more money that has ever been seen at a football club and basically buying his way to success


Muppets will rejoice. And in fairness so will I, but wont stop me thinking he is a cnut.

ManCity, Chelsea will also spend big next season. Selling clubs will be swimming in the cash.

 

[Randall Flagg]

ManCity, Chelsea will also spend big next season. Selling clubs will be swimming in the cash.

yeah, I think this summer is going to be crazy

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Yes.

People need to stop winging. The only real top-tier quality in our squad comes from those who Mourinho identified and signed himself. Let him do a bit more and see how it goes

 

[roonster09]

yeah, I think this summer is going to be crazy

Like Jose said, transfer record will be broken this summer again. Wouldn't be surprised if it is again by us.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Like Jose said, transfer record will be broken this summer again. Wouldn't be surprised if it is again by us.

Im fairly sure we will

But in total I think we will spend more in one window that any other club

Its really not something I get any joy out of. But I know lots live for the transfer windows

 

[roonster09]

Im fairly sure we will

But in total I think we will spend more in one window that any other club

Its really not something I get any joy out of. But I know lots live for the transfer windows

I believe City will spend more than any. They need new GK, CB, FBs, CM of better quality and everyone who is very good on the ball, so they will shell out a lot.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I find his attitute and man management to be very questionable. And I dont see him as the same guy we saw initially at chelsea 10 years ago.

But I actully expect him to turn it around next season. Not by being a great coach and manager but by throwing more money that has ever been seen at a football club and basically buying his way to success


Muppets will rejoice. And in fairness so will I, but wont stop me thinking he is a cnut.

I'm not far off that myself. I always thought he was a prick, so it would be immense double standards to kid myself he's a nice guy now he's got the United job.

I think I probably have a bit more faith in his ability as a manager than you do. I think the job he got was much more difficult than many are willing to admit. There were fairly grave cracks appearing in our squad even before Fergie retired (papered over by his genius) and the dreadful mismanagement since he retired has left us in a terrible state. A lot of people aren't willing to admit this (especially people who were outspoken about how they didn't want Mourinho in charge) and he's getting a lot of unfair stick for not being able to fix a fundamentally broken squad in a single season.

But yeah, he will throw a tonne of money at the problem. That's his way. I think it's also the only way that will turn things round quick enough for the incredibly impatient fan-base that a club of United's stature inevitably accumulates. It goes against almost everything I enjoy as a football fan but feck it, I also enjoy winning. So if we start winning things again, I'm sure I'll get over myself.

 

[Zlatattack]

Is he?

But as every game passes, I find myself losing patience. The draws are as bad as LvG but his whining about players to media annoys me even more. I can't remember of a single incident where Fergie washed his dirty linen in public. Fergie always was uber-protective of his team even after a loss he usually was harsh with the media. I hate the fact Jose is a media darling and doesn't hesitate to dangle his players out. If a player speaks out similar, I'm sure his ego will blow up and the player is apt to never play again.
.

I'm pretty sure the last thing Fergie did before he left was hanging Rooney out to dry.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I find his attitute and man management to be very questionable. And I dont see him as the same guy we saw initially at chelsea 10 years ago.

But I actully expect him to turn it around next season. Not by being a great coach and manager but by throwing more money that has ever been seen at a football club and basically buying his way to success


Muppets will rejoice. And in fairness so will I, but wont stop me thinking he is a cnut.

I'm not a big fan of his man management or his inability to tailor himself to the squad he has to work with but I actually trust him in the transfer market more than any other manager.

 

[Zlatattack]

I've never bought that whole "special" business. I do know that he has won trophies at every club he's been at and I expect the same here. If at the end of the contract he's got us winning the league and back in the CL, then it's mission acomplished as far as I'm concerned. I think personally for him, his next challenge should be trying to have a long term project where he re-builds winning teams, as that remains as a question mark over his ability.

 

[Womp]

I've never bought that whole "special" business. I do know that he has won trophies at every club he's been at and I expect the same here. If at the end of the contract he's got us winning the league and back in the CL, then it's mission acomplished as far as I'm concerned. I think personally for him, his next challenge should be trying to have a long term project where he re-builds winning teams, as that remains as a question mark over his ability.

IMO, apart from SAF he has been the best manager of this generation, but this is the one area he has always been underwhelming. TBF though, we've never really had the chance to see, early on in his career he was just moving about everywhere and winning and later on in his career he was much too paranoid to stay in a job for that long.

He's been speaking about wanting to stay here if he starts winning and the club wants him to stay, guess we'll have to wait and see

 

[kouroux]

No he isn't, never has been and never will be. For me he is just a manager like the others, one I hope will prove successful at Utd and one who I won't have any special feeling when he will leave us.

 

[villain]

He's done what he can, for the most part we've been playing much better and creating a ton of chances.

We ne ed to work on our finishing, whether the coaching staff need to change their training methods or we need to improve on our forwards - something needs to change up front.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm pretty sure the last thing Fergie did before he left was hanging Rooney out to dry.

This true. He was also brutal in the way he squeezed out the likes of Ruud and Beckham. Or Paul McGrath et al, early doors.

Tbf, Mourinho is much more open with the press when he wants to cut someone lose. Which leaves an unpleasant taste. But the only real downside is letting other clubs know too much information about why he wants rid of such and such. And our ability to get a good price when players leave has improved massively since he took over, so that's not obviously a major problem.

I'm not too worried about the players having bruised emotions over what he told the press. Fergie never directly came out and said why he got rid of Beckham but the latter was so hurt by events that he didn't watch another United game for four years, which proves that there's an emotional cost no matter what comes out of the club.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He's still the right man for the job. Anyone saying otherwise needs to give their heads a wobble.

Some of his decisions have baffled and frustrated me. Mainly the constant moaning of fixture congestion yet the refusal to rest certain players. Ibrahimovic being undroppable is also frustrating but he clearly lacks faith in Rooney/Rashford/Martial to lead the line. And I agree with people who say he seems to have lost some of his aura which made him a formidable manager earlier in his career, certainly in the big games.

That said, he is our 3rd manager in 4 years. We cannot keep chopping and changing and letting the players get away with it. You cannot blame Mourinho for the pathetic finishing we have seen all season. He has set up a team that has consistently created chances this season, it's then the forward players' job to put the ball in the net. Our conversion rate is awful. Even Ibra, for all his plaudits, has a distinctly average conversion rate compared to other forwards in Europe.

This place is a joke though. Full of spoilt, impatient, football manager playing fans who think rebuilding a football club is a one season job after 3 years of dross. Some of you should hang your heads in shame. The same people would have called for Fergie's head long before he won his first trophy

You're not wrong, Elvis. Of course, the best bit about your last sentence is that Mourinho has already won his first trophy!

 

[rpg]

Mourinho have never been the special ones for me. I recognised he was at Chelsea, but not over here. But still i trust he is the best available manager to lift us up post-Fergie.

 

[Oscie]

We're always going to be here after every poor result. Even if we were 20 points clear at the top now we'd drop points in a game and someone will see it as their cue to start a thread complaining about it. I've more respect for people who make these points before we drop points because doing it after blurs the lines between intelligent analysis vs throwing toys of of pram because we had a bad result.

Results and performances actually don't get analysed that much any more as we're all too busy taking turns posting something prophetic and introspective.

 

[Zlatattack]

IMO, apart from SAF he has been the best manager of this generation, but this is the one area he has always been underwhelming. TBF though, we've never really had the chance to see, early on in his career he was just moving about everywhere and winning and later on in his career he was much too paranoid to stay in a job for that long.

He's been speaking about wanting to stay here if he starts winning and the club wants him to stay, guess we'll have to wait and see

We've been spoilt over the years. We had a great manager who built team after team and kept winning. In a sense I think Arsenal fans have been lucky too. They've had a manager who saw them through a lot of success at the start, he's not repeated that success recently but he's had them always playing attractive football, they've played regularly at the highest level and have gone through a stadium move and the financial challenges that came with it smoothly. They want him gone (somewhat understandable) but will miss that stability.

Most other clubs, regardless of success are changing managers quite frequently. Mourinho has had a pretty typical career path for modern managers (other than the success levels and the high quality of clubs he's managed). Most hang around a few years and then move on, or are moved on.

 

[RedSky]

This isn't the same manager that was in charge of Porto, Chelsea (first stint) and Inter. He's still pretty good and his transfer record will win him trophies, but he's not the monster he was earlier in his career who would get every single drop of juice out of his squad.

Agreed. He's definitely changed since the Chelsea early years.

 

[Bilbo]

Since we lost 4-0 to Chelsea we've been the better team in practically every single game we've played, bar a handful.

In reality the most a coach can achieve is to make his side dominant in a match. Putting the ball in the net is down to the players. He will address this in the summer and we will be on another level next season.

 

[Ramshock]

Is he?

I'll admit I wasn't very enthused about having him here and actually didn't want him...but desperate times, desperate measures needed and if we did get back on track, I can admit to being wrong and join the bandwagon.

But as every game passes, I find myself losing patience. The draws are as bad as LvG but his whining about players to media annoys me even more. I can't remember of a single incident where Fergie washed his dirty linen in public. Fergie always was uber-protective of his team even after a loss he usually was harsh with the media. I hate the fact Jose is a media darling and doesn't hesitate to dangle his players out. If a player speaks out similar, I'm sure his ego will blow up and the player is apt to never play again.

I'm leaning more and more to....Feckin win or get the feck out.

I may respect Jose for if he does turn us around, but I'll never love him irrespective of success.

Nope lets hire a 4th manager in 5 years

 

[Kostur]

He's the sad one for me now. Not smiling at all.

 

[GM K]

Trust me, United WILL challenge for the title next season. We are talking about Jose Mourinho here guys. This season's experience is very good for him. His pride has been bashed. He is hungry now. Wait for the next set of players he buys. No one deals better in the transfer market than this guy. What I can't guarantee is a long term stay. He has the capacity for a melt down but only after he has won. Win, he will. That's as sure as Messi will score from 5 yards.