Jose Mourinho : The desperate but RIGHT option

May. 25, 2016

With neighbours Manchester City hiring Pep Guardiola and arch-rivals Liverpool turning to Klopp, it would seem that Manchester United’s closest and fiercest rivals are on the up. Liverpool have already showcased it with impressive performances in the Europa League, helping them to the final where they fell just short to an experienced Sevilla team that clinched a third consecutive Europa League title. Manchester City set a new personal record by making the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history. However, their league performances have been incredibly underwhelming. The feeling at the Red side of Manchester is that the appointment of Europe’s most sought after and successful manager in recent years may change that.

If it wasn’t for Guardiola’s appointment, Louis Van Gaal might still have a job. Don’t get me wrong. Louis Van Gaal is out of a job because of Louis Van Gaal. His dull idea of a philosophy, strange tactical decisions and pathetic excuses played a big role in his sacking. Nevertheless, Manchester City’s managerial change may have just forced a hand.

Jose Mourinho being named as Manchester United manager is causing quite a stir in the world of football. Some are questioning whether his character fits the bill as ‘Manchester United material’. Bobby Charlton, a Manchester United legend and current board member was famously quoted as saying "A United manager wouldn’t do that. Mourinho is a really good coach but that’s as far as I would go really. He pontificates too much for my liking. He’s a good manager, though". This was in response to Mourinho’s eye-poke on Tito Vilanova during a heated match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Would Mourinho be humble in defeat when United lose a game against a close rival in the upcoming season? Probably not but Sir Alex Ferguson was hardly a saint in that respect.

Some argue that Mourinho’s style of football is not the ‘United Way’. More recently referring to his ‘park the bus’ tactic, which helped Chelsea to the Premier League title in the 2014/15 season. Chelsea would be happy to sit back and soak up the pressure before seizing their opportunity on the counter attack during that season. What isn’t mentioned often enough is the fact that he only compromises his style of play for the biggest matches, adopting a cautious approach when the stakes are at the highest. During his first season back at Chelsea, Mourinho and Chelsea trounced Arsenal 6-0. Even during their title-winning season, Chelsea managed 73 goals (second highest that season). The last time United enjoyed a 4-goal cushion in the Premier League was in September 2014 vs QPR. That would be 2 years ago come the start of the new campaign.

Criticsm of Mourinho being a defensive coach is unjust. During his time in Portugal and Italy, no team outscored Mourinho’s Porto and Inter Milan teams respectively. If that isn’t impressive, during his 3 years in Spain, Real Madrid scored atleast 100 goals in each season. More notably during their title winning campaign when Real Madrid set a new La Liga record by scoring 121 times. Overshadowing the great Barcelona squad of that period.

For all the criticism Mourinho receives, the particular one that stands out is his unwillingness to give youth a chance and how that goes against the United culture. That is hardly the case. Mourinho has given youth a chance wherever he’s been. It is then up to the player to take the opportunity. In 2002, Mourinho gave a first team debut to B team prospect Ricardo Costa and he went on to make over 100 first team appearances for the club. Mourinho gave 7 Chelsea academy players their debut but none managed to grasp their chance. At Inter, David Santon was given the task to mark Cristiano Ronaldo during a Champions League tie aged 18 years old.

Blooding youth isn’t exactly in the agenda at Real Madrid but Mourinho handed debuts to academy starlets Jese, Morata and Nacho amongst many more. All of whom have developed into fine footballers. In his latest chapter in the Premier League with Chelsea, Mourinho gave 7 academy players their chance. In particular, the talented trio of Dominic Solanke, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Bertrand Traore.

In total, Mourinho has handed 40 debuts to academy players during his 5 different stints as manager.

Mourinho’s appointment points to one thing. United want trophies and Mourinho almost guarantees that. His history of league finishes is astonishing. Lowest being 3rd with Chelsea before he won the league in the following season. He has conquered 8 league titles in 12 complete seasons as manager.

Picture courtesy of SkySportsNews twitter page.

Another intriguing factor will be the renewing of his rivalry with Pep Guardiola. A rivalry, that brought the best and worst out of Mourinho in Spain. A rivalry now being brought to Manchester. Grab your popcorn lads, its about to get heated in Manchester.