The power we afford Mourinho

[Pexbo]

So obviously we're working on the assumption the job is his. I think this is going to be the most interesting element of his reign and will make or break him here.

Now we are all fully aware of his antics at various clubs, he's done some unsavoury things and is known to cause controversy with both opposition parties and within his own club. I think, however, some of his antics could be put down to him trying to either test his boundaries or stamp his authority. At Chelsea he had a power struggle with his players, Ambramovic, Ambramovic backing his players and finally his players again in his second stint.

At Real Madrid he had a power battle with the Spanish contingent with the likes of Casillas having far more power than a player should ever have. With his wife's journalistic links it was incredibly difficult to cease control of the dressing room without having a whole section of the media drawing their daggers for him.


So back to United, I'm expecting a different fight. I don't think he will have a problem ticking the attacking football box. If he can get us winning 2-0 that will be enough in his first few months following from Van Gaal. Hell if he gets us scoring in the first half we'll be happy. Winning the odd game with 3 or 4 goals will make him some sort of Demi God such is our patience right now.

I think the fight will be down to what he does with the kids and it'll be a case of having our cake and eating it too as fans. If we are going to be free scoring again we are going to need a free scoring striker and there is no question that Mourinho will be looking for one. It's pretty certain to be Zlatan (IMO), he ticks all of Mourinho's boxes, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he goes for Griezman too. Those acquisitions or similar is what we need to start free scoring again but where does it leave Rashford?

This is where the arguments can start. IT's very difficult to be both successful and blood youth. Fergie was great at it but he always had a squad of winners to lead the way. Cantona, Bruce, Irwin and co lead the first crop of youngsters while Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Neville lead the next and Ferdinand, Vidic and Fletcher guided the later ones.

Rooney aside who is going to do that now? Carrick is off, Schweinsteiger is relatively new to the club and the rest have relatively little taste of success.


So is Mourinho going to be allowed to do everything his own way and go for success first and think about youth later or will he be expected, as terms of being United manager, to keep blooding the youngsters?


Secondly how much backing or resistance will he get from the Sirs? Fergie was allowed to do and say What he liked no questions asked. If Mourinho motivates his players by saying they are not good enough to win the league or by picking one out for individual criticism to provoke a reaction, will we start to hear murmurs from the Sirs about how it's not being looked upon favourably by "people high at the club".


It's a delicate situation and somewhat untested waters with Mourinho (although he seemed to excel with full control at Inter). Give him total control and you might see a different man, akin to Sir Alex who I think would have had similar trouble if he didn't have backing of the club when facing certain players throughout his career. Or maybe you just give him enough rope to hang himself.


My personal opinion is that we've got to let him do it his way. Completely and totally. No bollocks about "the United way". It's Mourinho's way. The United way is about success and that to me is the most important thing for this club right now. We are in danger of being like Liverpool, too much worry about being the club we think we are and not enough focus on being the club we could be.

 

[11101]

I think it depends if he sees this as the next 10-20 years of his life or simply another mark on his CV and a stepping stone on the way to managing Portugal.

If the latter it will be same old Mourinho. Immediate success followed by fallout and gone inside 3 years.

If the former we could see a new man. He will certainly have more freedom than he's had since his Porto days. If he's viewing it long term and feels comfortable he won't be challenged by inside forces he may even be happy to bring through some youth players.

 

[Skills]

I'd just let him loose with as much as much money as he needs, as long as he keeps winning us things.

We'll have him for 3 years - 5 years max, so it's time to make the most of him.

 

[Insanity]

I was planning to start a thread on similar lines. IMO, these should be our expectations from Jose:

His & team's conduct:

• Mind games as long as it is mild ribbing/off hand comments against the opposition managers is fine, but it shouldn't become an obsession as it has against Wenger, Pep or Rafa in the past. No poking in the eyes or picking unnecessary fights or disrespectful comments when they are not needed.
• No constant fannying, play faking, flopping, diving from the team. We should come across as a tough team not a team full of despicable cnuts.
• Some of his press conferences and post match rants during his latest stint at Chelsea were pathetic. I hope we see none of that.
• Not too much of the 'me, me, me' attitude. This about Manchester United, not Jose's personal battles against Pep and Wenger.

The football:

• Wenger was 100% correct when he recently said that the traditional big clubs have an obligation to play attractive football, to entertain. Circumstances sometimes necessitate the application of negative tactics but I would not want us to constantly deploy tactics that Simeone uses at Atletico. We are a club with resources, there is no reason for us not to use them to develop a team that plays attractive football.
• We have a lot of talented youngsters in our ranks; they need to be given chances to excel. Januzaj, Pereira, Wilson, Rashford, Tofu, BJ - are as talented a youngsters as I have seen at this club. It would be a shame if at least a couple of them don't make it because of the lack of chances.
• I do not expect a premier league title in his first season. However, I expect him to build a team that'll compete for it in years to come.

I do not know the exact definition of the 'United way' but every top club has ethos that any manager should have to adhere to. I hope we do too. He can do whatever he wants keeping those in mind.

Manchester United - Entertaining football, making superstars out of young talented players & trophies.

 

[.Rossi]

Bitta craic sure

 

[Attila]

There was an article in the times (I think it may have been by Duncan castles) about how Mourinho suspected the goalkeeping coach who was very close to Abramovich was given him info about what goes on at training. There's also Emanolo who offered to resign when Mourinho came so I presume there's friction between them too as well.

I doubt this kind of thing will happen with Woodward. He doesn't seem to be the type to interfere with football matters and I think Mourinho will have full power at United. I also doubt we will be willing to risk anything going wrong with Mourinho here as having 3 failure managers in a row would he a disaster for Woodward and the club.

Chelsea also have the likes of Terry who according to Makelele autobiography went to Abramovich and told him it's either him or Mourinho which resulted in his sacking. Im not sure we even have players of that stature and if they did try it I would imagine they would be sold.

I think we may get to see how much power he is given by what happens to Giggs. I doubt he will want someone so close to Ferguson (who apparently opposes him getting hired) in the dressing room and who wants his job.

Personally I think the best approach is to just let him do what he wants and not demand any United way stuff

Edit - also if Balotelli can make 70 appearances for Mourinho in two seasons while being a teenage loose cannon then I think rashford will be ok

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

A manager at United usually has more power than anywhere else because we don't have transfer committees, directors of football or public ownership where a board has to sanction money for transfers. He'll be given more power than he even had at Inter, which was his best time. I'm naturally vary of this as he will loan or sell a lot of promising players because he has very little patience for players who make mistakes or don't follow his game plan. I just hope we insert a buy back clause for ever player we sell from our academy.

 

[MDFC Manager]

It will seem to us that Mourinho has all the power, when in truth, is Mendes who will be the puppeteer.

 

[caid]

You need to let him manage the team.
If he wants to drop rashford, never to be seen again you've kind of got to let him.
A director of football and an overriding strategy should be brought in,
but there has to be a point where you step back and hand over control to him too.

 

[Sereques]

• We have a lot of talented youngsters in our ranks; they need to be given chances to excel. Januzaj, Pereira, Wilson, Rashford, Tofu, BJ - are as talented a youngsters as I have seen at this club. It would be a shame if at least a couple of them don't make it because of the lack of chances.

This will be the problem. What exactly is chances? Yes, they will be given the chance to play but to what extent? This is a big club that is expected to compete at a high level. We are not going 50+ games for a player to show himself at this level. We need to see sign(s) of improvement.

Januzaj has played 49games for this club and 6 games for Dortmund but some still say he hasn't been given the chance. Good player alright but how many games does he need?

 

[Empire]

I like what has been started so surely we should build on it, I bet this place loved seeing Rashford starting the final and Lingard scoring the winner, I want the youth policy to continue, academy graduates of Rashford, Lingard, TFM and CBJ are good enough for Mourinho's squad.

Even though Martial had a quiet game I bet the CAF rates him as future world player of the year and would love it if Memphis puts this season behind him and comes back stronger, we need Mourinho to sign more players like these in that when they were signed it was evident they had serious potential.

I'd like under Mourinho for at least one academy graduate to break through per season and also for him to sign players that are the best young players in the world, the signings of De Gea, Shaw, Martial etc. are examples of what this club should be doing, Ronaldo, Rooney, Ferdinand, if we have a vacant position we should sign a player for it that we feel will become one of the best in his position.

In the case of Schneiderlin or Darmian these guys are good solid players but probably aren't going to be one of the best in their position, they were the right signings at the time because Rafael was injury prone and so we needed another solid right back, we didn't have a player like Schneiderlin, but we should now look to have a world class potential young player who can take their position off them, I think Fosu-Mensah is the player to show he can be our defensive midfielder but for right back we don't have anyone therefore we should keep scouting the best young right backs and when the time is right try to sign that player.

Mourinho comes to us having won 1 major trophy in 3 seasons or 3 trophies in 6 seasons, in his most recent spell he left Chelsea in a mess, the selling of Lukaku and De Bruyne especially I think was poor, we've signed him because he is the best in the business but that shouldn't mean he can just neglect the club's long term health and I'm sure he won't, he's a professional, he'll do the job asked of him.

 

[Bojan11]

I like what has been started so surely we should build on it, I bet this place loved seeing Rashford starting the final and Lingard scoring the winner, I want the youth policy to continue, academy graduates of Rashford, Lingard, TFM and CBJ are good enough for Mourinho's squad.

Even though Martial had a quiet game I bet the CAF rates him as future world player of the year and would love it if Memphis puts this season behind him and comes back stronger, we need Mourinho to sign more players like these in that when they were signed it was evident they had serious potential.

I'd like under Mourinho for at least one academy graduate to break through per season and also for him to sign players that are the best young players in the world, the signings of De Gea, Shaw, Martial etc. are examples of what this club should be doing, Ronaldo, Rooney, Ferdinand, if we have a vacant position we should sign a player for it that we feel will become one of the best in his position.

In the case of Schneiderlin or Darmian these guys are good solid players but probably aren't going to be one of the best in their position, they were the right signings at the time because Rafael was injury prone and so we needed another solid right back, we didn't have a player like Schneiderlin, but we should now look to have a world class potential young player who can take their position off them, I think Fosu-Mensah is the player to show he can be our defensive midfielder but for right back we don't have anyone therefore we should keep scouting the best young right backs and when the time is right try to sign that player.

Mourinho comes to us having won 1 major trophy in 3 seasons or 3 trophies in 6 seasons, in his most recent spell he left Chelsea in a mess, the selling of Lukaku and De Bruyne especially I think was poor, we've signed him because he is the best in the business but that shouldn't mean he can just neglect the club's long term health and I'm sure he won't, he's a professional, he'll do the job asked of him.

So you are only counting leagues as trophies? Interesting.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Good OP @Pexbo.

I think Mou will have matured from the Chelsea experience. I fully expect verbal controversy but I'm anticipating that his physical behaviour will be much more subdued. He'll cheer when we win and do comical, over elaborate fist pumps in big games but I think he knows that his behaviour will be a closely watched aspect.

As for kids, he will have to have them in the squad. I honestly believe that is both:
A) A pre-requisite for the job. No manager will be allowed to break our continual record of youth player in match day squad.
B) Something he will relish. Throughout Jose's career when questions have been asked, he's attempted to front them head on and challenge that. He will owe a huge assist to Louis and Warren Joyce of course but the bed rock of a youthful squad is already there with top quality additions to the first 11 his main priority.

As for power, I believe he will start with a reduced set. Simply because he doesn't need to control everything here. His aura will do most of the work on arrival. And especially with the recent restructuring; Louis, Berta or other as DOF and other posts to be in place. Mendes will have been well briefed on the setup proposals and possibly even had some input into it.

Lastly, it wouldn't surprise me if Jose is here for 4-5 years too to prove that last point about his relative short termism (2-3 years). Again, the nucleus of youthful players to prop up a squad is already here, the stability of Woodward's patience is there, the ego massaging of everything else is in place too.

 

[rimaldo]

the power of greyskull.

rawk, 2016.

 

[Pexbo]

the power of greyskull.

rawk, 2016.

If forgotten about RAWK. They fecking hate him don't they. This is going to be glorious.

 

[Kill 'em all]

Blank cheques, full power to do anything he wants and watch him win us the league!

 

[Fortitude]

You've got to give him the power, otherwise you shouldn't hire him in the first place. It's on ours and his shoulders how well that is appropriated during his tenure.

SAF seems to be someone Mourinho idolizes, and if he wants to emulate him, he needs to build a legacy here whilst showing he has the wherewithal to manage with a broader, less myopic brush than he's shown at other clubs. It really would be masterful if Mourinho can come in, show he has the stones and ability to oversee such a vast operation and juggle all the balls in anything like the manner SAF did.

We're probably the last club left where a manager can assume the helm of the entire operation rather than just coach the players and deal with a fraction of what the old school management job entailed. It would raise Mourinho into another stratosphere if he can come in and do what he's never had to whilst being as high profile as he is.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Maybe having this autonomy will stop him turning into a paranoid wreck like he always inevitably does by the third season, maybe not. It's all part of the intrigue, he's a winner, he'll get that siege mentality back that SAF always created when we needed it and he'll piss off a lot of people too. You look at his CV and you think we can't really go wrong and that we'll at least have some short-term success, but at what cost? I still think guys like Rashford and Fosu Mensah could get a chance, I know he likes working with experienced players who only have a short window left but with guys like Rashford and TFM he's got players he can bend into his will. I think it will be nice to just have some clarity in a manager, someone who doesn't play Ashley Young up front for example.

 

[hobbers]

- In the Prem, play youngsters only if they're good enough, ie an upgrade on the more experienced alternatives. Rashford, Shaw and Martial fall into this category. Others may not. In Europa and the cups give others a chance to excel, ie Pereira, Januzaj, Depay, Fosu-Mensah, CBJ.
- Full autonomy on signings and pretty much everything else.
- Be as arrogant as he likes, troll the media and rile up other managers.

On the other hand:
- No obsessive ranting about refereeing conspiracies.
- No obsessing over a single managerial rival, ie Pep or Wenger. Dish it out evenly.

 

[Acole9]

He's had more power than any other manager at Real Madrid has ever had. It should be the same for him here, no director of football unless of course he wants one (although seems as though the club doesn't).

 

[sglowrider]

I think Mourinho at 53 will have learnt a few things particularly from recent experiences. He is at an age where you start to think about leaving a legacy and not just trophies for your own memories.

So where better to be reminded of your new life cycle than with the richness of tradition and history than at United -- where we have legends who are still fresh in the minds of the fans from Busby Babes to Sir Alex.

As Eric said recently, 'you walk in and you can feel the ghosts of the pasts everyday.'

So welcome to Old Trafford Jose.

 

[kafta]

We always seem to give our managers total control, and I don't think we will benefit from having mourinho here unless he has this control.

Ive always felt that he want this job, and during his last stint at Chelsea, he was always saying he wants to stay longer than he usually does. I hope that this will lead to him wanting to stay for a long period of time and build a team that will ultimately be his legacy.

 

[m1y2]

Well while LVG always in his career played attractive football and strangely changed it in his last spell at United to a more pragmatic approach, I hope something similar happens here and Jose changes a bit the way he lets his team paly, hope he give the players more freedom and give more chances to youth. While I'm disappointed with the decision, I am glad LVG is off and we didn't really had other chances left as for who to appoint. I also hope he will attract some world class players like Griezmann and will convince some players to stay particularly DDG.

I really hope and want to see us playing attractive football again and I think there was a period of time when Chelsea played quite nice football at the beginning of his first or second season, right now I don't know, in his last spell there. I really hope he will give chance to Andreas Pereira as he looks like a player who Jose likes, Oscar type, but I have quite worries as he might not look ready in his eyes but yet again he could look much more ready if he wasn't freezed by the Dutchman. If he got at least half the games Jesse got we might have a idea if he's gonna be worldie or long term prospect, while Lingard was always gonna be squad player.

Think it will be interesting who he uses and obviously who he signs, think he might quite like Lingard for his work rate and good all round play, Pereira I already mentioned, he's basically more gifted and flair player than Lingard while also being versatile and hopefully he shows his worth over summer and puts in a lot of hardwork and keep his head down and he will get his chance.. On the other hand I quite fear for Januzaj, his workrate will be an issue for Mourinho but strangely I sense it might work somehow, even though think there will be even more competition. Big question mark is Memphis, he will not be sold that's for sure but think Jose will make him work hard and that alone might be enough for him to give him reasonable playing time but he also needs to get his chances..

Fosu and Schneiderlin could be a very strong base for our next defensive record, dunno about Herrera though, who knows maybe Jose will try him in a fabregas role or play him as more advanced player, maybe as Ramirez, think we have some good box to box players so maybe we might see a bit more dynamic approach from Mou.

 

[Mr Smith]

Agree completely about making it Mourinho's way; we've made a deal with the devil, and we should commit to it

In all seriousness, it's a bit of a myth that Mourinho sides don't play good football, or attacking football. Mourinho tends to let attacking players express themselves going forward (rather like SAF did) as long as they do their defensive duties. Some of Mourinho's sides (Real Madrid in 2012, Porto in 2004, Chelsea in 2014) were majestic attacking forces, and he tends to shut up shop and play defensive when the going gets tough or when he knows he can't outplay his opponent.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

I think the "Jose's going to neglect the kids" narrative is a bit overstated, not necessarily because he has a great record but mainly because we ourselves underestimate what some of our young players have accomplished this season. Martial spent his first season at the highest level as our point of reference in the attacking half and showed that he has the potential to become a world class player. Rashford has showed vision, positional awareness and an eye for goals in the box that is simply exceptional for his age. The unlucky Shaw responded to his first bad season by being a completely revitalized player in the beginning of this season. Lingard scored some important goals and even managed to get starts ahead of Mata. CBJ and TFM showed good skills too. Some others didn't try that much and preferred to complain about not getting enough playing time.

I'm saying this because i don't think Mourinho really cares if you're young or old. He only cares if you are cut for the highest level, if you can handle the pressure of going out to win every single game and if you can deliver the goods when the going gets tough. And we have young players who have shown in the previous seasons that they can rise up to the challenge. I don't think it's all doom and gloom for our academy players.

There was one big question when we appointed LvG, if the players we had in the squad could achieve the transition to a possession based side and how soon. LvG paid the price of losing that battle, the newcomers didn't help much, the youngsters couldn't carry the team on their own and we found ourselves missing out on CL football for the second time in three seasons by playing some of our worst football in decades too.

This team looks more suited to Mourinho's tactics than LvG's. So, the biggest question here will probably be how Mourinho will adjust his small rotation and his heavy reliance on certain first team players to an injury prone and young/inexperienced squad. Of course we'll need some ready made solutions, it's crazy to believe that we can get back to the top without them. But if we get the right players in order to have one point of reference in each line (Cech-Terry-Lampard-Drogba, Casillas-Ramos-Alonso-Ronaldo, Cesar-Lucio/Zanetti-Sneijder-Milito, DDG-Smalling-CM-Forward?), we'll have a great chance to blood in all the youngsters and create a rather formidable side.

One thing's for sure, i'll be eagerly awaiting our first pre season friendly this summer. I think he's had enough time to watch these players and he has already formed a general idea about what he wants to do with these players. It will be a very interesting summer for us.

As for him falling out with players at Chelsea and Real Madrid, i believe we're closer to Inter and perhaps Porto on that account. I don't believe there are any players who are able to challenge his authority. On the contrary, we have lots of players who will be absolutely grateful to him if the team wins any major trophies.

 

[Hammerfell]

If forgotten about RAWK. They fecking hate him don't they. This is going to be glorious.

They've already called him shitcoat eleventy billion times in their United thread.

 

[togg]

So obviously we're working on the assumption the job is his. I think this is going to be the most interesting element of his reign and will make or break him here.

Now we are all fully aware of his antics at various clubs, he's done some unsavoury things and is known to cause controversy with both opposition parties and within his own club. I think, however, some of his antics could be put down to him trying to either test his boundaries or stamp his authority. At Chelsea he had a power struggle with his players, Ambramovic, Ambramovic backing his players and finally his players again in his second stint.

At Real Madrid he had a power battle with the Spanish contingent with the likes of Casillas having far more power than a player should ever have. With his wife's journalistic links it was incredibly difficult to cease control of the dressing room without having a whole section of the media drawing their daggers for him.


So back to United, I'm expecting a different fight. I don't think he will have a problem ticking the attacking football box. If he can get us winning 2-0 that will be enough in his first few months following from Van Gaal. Hell if he gets us scoring in the first half we'll be happy. Winning the odd game with 3 or 4 goals will make him some sort of Demi God such is our patience right now.

I think the fight will be down to what he does with the kids and it'll be a case of having our cake and eating it too as fans. If we are going to be free scoring again we are going to need a free scoring striker and there is no question that Mourinho will be looking for one. It's pretty certain to be Zlatan (IMO), he ticks all of Mourinho's boxes, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he goes for Griezman too. Those acquisitions or similar is what we need to start free scoring again but where does it leave Rashford?

This is where the arguments can start. IT's very difficult to be both successful and blood youth. Fergie was great at it but he always had a squad of winners to lead the way. Cantona, Bruce, Irwin and co lead the first crop of youngsters while Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Neville lead the next and Ferdinand, Vidic and Fletcher guided the later ones.

Rooney aside who is going to do that now? Carrick is off, Schweinsteiger is relatively new to the club and the rest have relatively little taste of success.


So is Mourinho going to be allowed to do everything his own way and go for success first and think about youth later or will he be expected, as terms of being United manager, to keep blooding the youngsters?


Secondly how much backing or resistance will he get from the Sirs? Fergie was allowed to do and say What he liked no questions asked. If Mourinho motivates his players by saying they are not good enough to win the league or by picking one out for individual criticism to provoke a reaction, will we start to hear murmurs from the Sirs about how it's not being looked upon favourably by "people high at the club".


It's a delicate situation and somewhat untested waters with Mourinho (although he seemed to excel with full control at Inter). Give him total control and you might see a different man, akin to Sir Alex who I think would have had similar trouble if he didn't have backing of the club when facing certain players throughout his career. Or maybe you just give him enough rope to hang himself.


My personal opinion is that we've got to let him do it his way. Completely and totally. No bollocks about "the United way". It's Mourinho's way. The United way is about success and that to me is the most important thing for this club right now. We are in danger of being like Liverpool, too much worry about being the club we think we are and not enough focus on being the club we could be.

I think this is vital for him. He can't do it any other way. He has the skill, talent and record of success that allows him to have this, demand it even. Personally I think this might be his last club job before perhaps he manages Portugal before retiring. Which means if there is some success during those first three years he could very well extend. We all know he has a huge respect and admiration for Fergie and I think he can't wait to get inside this club and will work his bollocks off to make it here.

 

[adexkola]

So obviously we're working on the assumption the job is his. I think this is going to be the most interesting element of his reign and will make or break him here.

Now we are all fully aware of his antics at various clubs, he's done some unsavoury things and is known to cause controversy with both opposition parties and within his own club. I think, however, some of his antics could be put down to him trying to either test his boundaries or stamp his authority. At Chelsea he had a power struggle with his players, Ambramovic, Ambramovic backing his players and finally his players again in his second stint.

At Real Madrid he had a power battle with the Spanish contingent with the likes of Casillas having far more power than a player should ever have. With his wife's journalistic links it was incredibly difficult to cease control of the dressing room without having a whole section of the media drawing their daggers for him.


So back to United, I'm expecting a different fight. I don't think he will have a problem ticking the attacking football box. If he can get us winning 2-0 that will be enough in his first few months following from Van Gaal. Hell if he gets us scoring in the first half we'll be happy. Winning the odd game with 3 or 4 goals will make him some sort of Demi God such is our patience right now.

I think the fight will be down to what he does with the kids and it'll be a case of having our cake and eating it too as fans. If we are going to be free scoring again we are going to need a free scoring striker and there is no question that Mourinho will be looking for one. It's pretty certain to be Zlatan (IMO), he ticks all of Mourinho's boxes, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he goes for Griezman too. Those acquisitions or similar is what we need to start free scoring again but where does it leave Rashford?

This is where the arguments can start. IT's very difficult to be both successful and blood youth. Fergie was great at it but he always had a squad of winners to lead the way. Cantona, Bruce, Irwin and co lead the first crop of youngsters while Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Neville lead the next and Ferdinand, Vidic and Fletcher guided the later ones.

Rooney aside who is going to do that now? Carrick is off, Schweinsteiger is relatively new to the club and the rest have relatively little taste of success.


So is Mourinho going to be allowed to do everything his own way and go for success first and think about youth later or will he be expected, as terms of being United manager, to keep blooding the youngsters?


Secondly how much backing or resistance will he get from the Sirs? Fergie was allowed to do and say What he liked no questions asked. If Mourinho motivates his players by saying they are not good enough to win the league or by picking one out for individual criticism to provoke a reaction, will we start to hear murmurs from the Sirs about how it's not being looked upon favourably by "people high at the club".


It's a delicate situation and somewhat untested waters with Mourinho (although he seemed to excel with full control at Inter). Give him total control and you might see a different man, akin to Sir Alex who I think would have had similar trouble if he didn't have backing of the club when facing certain players throughout his career. Or maybe you just give him enough rope to hang himself.


My personal opinion is that we've got to let him do it his way. Completely and totally. No bollocks about "the United way". It's Mourinho's way. The United way is about success and that to me is the most important thing for this club right now. We are in danger of being like Liverpool, too much worry about being the club we think we are and not enough focus on being the club we could be.

I disagree. I have no issues with the club demanding certain things from Mourinho. He can't be an utter cnut with players, throwing them under the bus for his own agenda. He should look to utilize youth in the squad. And he should keep his hands to himself.

 

[adexkola]

Agree completely about making it Mourinho's way; we've made a deal with the devil, and we should commit to it

In all seriousness, it's a bit of a myth that Mourinho sides don't play good football, or attacking football. Mourinho tends to let attacking players express themselves going forward (rather like SAF did) as long as they do their defensive duties. Some of Mourinho's sides (Real Madrid in 2012, Porto in 2004, Chelsea in 2014) were majestic attacking forces, and he tends to shut up shop and play defensive when the going gets tough or when he knows he can't outplay his opponent.

Chelsea in 2014 were not "majestic". Neither were Porto in 2004.

 

[Revan]

I was planning to start a thread on similar lines. IMO, these should be our expectations from Jose:

His & team's conduct:

• Mind games as long as it is mild ribbing/off hand comments against the opposition managers is fine, but it shouldn't become an obsession as it has against Wenger, Pep or Rafa in the past. No poking in the eyes or picking unnecessary fights or disrespectful comments when they are not needed.
• No constant fannying, play faking, flopping, diving from the team. We should come across as a tough team not a team full of despicable cnuts.
• Some of his press conferences and post match rants during his latest stint at Chelsea were pathetic. I hope we see none of that.
• Not too much of the 'me, me, me' attitude. This about Manchester United, not Jose's personal battles against Pep and Wenger.

The football:

• Wenger was 100% correct when he recently said that the traditional big clubs have an obligation to play attractive football, to entertain. Circumstances sometimes necessitate the application of negative tactics but I would not want us to constantly deploy tactics that Simeone uses at Atletico. We are a club with resources, there is no reason for us not to use them to develop a team that plays attractive football.
• We have a lot of talented youngsters in our ranks; they need to be given chances to excel. Januzaj, Pereira, Wilson, Rashford, Tofu, BJ - are as talented a youngsters as I have seen at this club. It would be a shame if at least a couple of them don't make it because of the lack of chances.
• I do not expect a premier league title in his first season. However, I expect him to build a team that'll compete for it in years to come.

I do not know the exact definition of the 'United way' but every top club has ethos that any manager should have to adhere to. I hope we do too. He can do whatever he wants keeping those in mind.

Manchester United - Entertaining football, making superstars out of young talented players & trophies.

So essentially, you want Mourinho to not be Mourinho here.

I hope that the board disagrees with you. I hope that they sign Mourinho because they think that Mourinho can be a success here, not because that they think that Mourinho can become some other person.

 

[Zarlak]

So essentially, you want Mourinho to not be Mourinho here.

I hope that the board disagrees with you. I hope that they sign Mourinho because they think that Mourinho can be a success here, not because that they think that Mourinho can become some other person.

This. He was signed for what he is, not for what he might be if he changes who he is.

 

[Crackers]

- In the Prem, play youngsters only if they're good enough, ie an upgrade on the more experienced alternatives. Rashford, Shaw and Martial fall into this category. Others may not. In Europa and the cups give others a chance to excel, ie Pereira, Januzaj, Depay, Fosu-Mensah, CBJ.
- Full autonomy on signings and pretty much everything else.
- Be as arrogant as he likes, troll the media and rile up other managers.

On the other hand:
- No obsessive ranting about refereeing conspiracies.
- No obsessing over a single managerial rival, ie Pep or Wenger. Dish it out evenly.

Wenger, Klopp, Pep, Pochettino, I think he'll dish it out to them the most.

 

[Lennon7]

If we allowed Van Gaal to do it his utter bollocks mundane way, I'm sure we'll let Mourinho do it his. The United way was Fergie's way, we have to accept that different managers play different styles.

I think people complained about 'the United way' because of how shite our football was under LVG and Moyes. Not saying Mourinho's will be much better, mind, but it'll probably be bearable and at least he wins.

 

[Charlie Foley]

I think it's kinda funny how much we were laughing at the prospect of Pep in the Europa League, when it looks like that's what Jose will be doing now

 

[pierrethesnack]

I think it depends if he sees this as the next 10-20 years of his life or simply another mark on his CV and a stepping stone on the way to managing Portugal.

A joke, I assume?

 

[Raoul]

Mourinho will probably have full control over all decisions, as any manager of his CV and calibre rightly should have.

 

[11101]

A joke, I assume?

He's long said he wants to manage Portugal as his end goal.

 

[Rory 7]

With us being in the Europa League I don't see playing the kids being a problem. He can use that competition to blood them.

 

[ghagua]

Give him all the power he needs to place United where they belong, top of the domestic game and competitive in Europe. If the young players want to come for the ride, they will work hard for it, otherwise they can move on. Success is all that matters.

 

[pierrethesnack]

He's long said he wants to manage Portugal as his end goal.

He's already more than qualified for the job. If he wanted it, he'd have it. No need to improve his CV for that.