Ex-Chelsea FC boss Jose Mourinho has been widely linked with a move to Manchester United. This will only be beneficial for the Red Devils.
Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager of Chelsea around two weeks ago, after the Blues had slumped to their ninth defeat of the Premier League campaign. The decision proved widely unpopular amongst the supporters, who felt that a lack of effort and commitment from the players had let the boss down.
Nevertheless, Mourinho was no longer in a job and the rumours immediately started to swirl. Louis Van Gaal was, and still is, facing a revolt from the Manchester United fans due to poor results and, more importantly, an incredibly boring style of football. Many supporters of the club have stated that a dearth of the creativity and free-flowing football that have characterised the Red Devils throughout history are the factors threatening his employment.
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With Van Gaal on the brink of either being fired or even resigning himself, everyone has put two and two together, stating that Mourinho will finally receive his opportunity to fulfill his supposed dream job.
However, there have been journalists and pundits claiming that Mourinho’s football is too negative for Old Trafford while his inability to stay at one club for an extended period of time goes against the United philosophy. This, though, is nonsense.
Mourinho has been plagued by accusations of boring football in recent times. People believe that he is a negative manager who would like to guarantee the win before considering the entertainment aspect of the sport. While there is some grounding to these allegations using evidence from the last two years, extrapolating the claims to cover his entire managerial career is ignorant.
The Portuguese tactician has won eight league titles to date. In all bar three of those campaigns his team topped the scoring charts. In the three where this wasn’t the case, his side tallied the second highest amount of goals. This, of course, is just a superficial overview that supports the argument, but deeper investigation only reinforces the sentiment.
Mourinho is a manager who has always been able to adapt to the squad that he has been handed. This was never more apparent than during his spell in charge of Real Madrid. Taking control of a talent-packed team which, along with Barcelona, stood some way above the rest of the sides in terms of quality, Mourinho entertained.
The victorious 2011/12 campaign saw him outscore the mighty Barcelona by seven goals as they hit the back of the net a whopping 121 times. The season previous, although a title was not won, Mourinho again outscored the Catalans. When he has had sufficient talent at his disposal, he has adapted his approach accordingly.
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Last season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea entertained for the first half of the campaign. They played fantastic football and after half the season had been completed, they were averaging over two goals per game.
The quality of the Blues’ football tailed off significantly as the campaign wore on, with crowds around the league serenading the club with chants of ‘boring, boring Chelsea’. However, the developments in West London so far this term have done nothing but prove that Mourinho’s squad simply weren’t capable of playing exciting football for a prolonged period of time.
Currently, Manchester United do have raw talent in their squad. Unfortunately, Van Gaal has squeezed the life out of it. With the likes of Anthony Martial, Memphis, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata available in attack, and youngsters such as Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira coming through the ranks, there is no shortage of creative talent.
Mourinho, as long as he is given a transfer window to make whatever changes he deems necessary, will be able to adjust his methods to those demanded by the Old Trafford brass.
The longevity argument, meanwhile, is valid. But do United truly need a decade-long manager at the moment? This season will mark the club’s third without a trophy should they draw a blank. While this isn’t a concern for many outfits, we are talking about Manchester United here.
The Red Devils desperately need to return to winning ways and Mourinho will almost certainly provide that for two or so seasons. This then also gives the directors an opportunity to properly look for and evaluate a successor who can carry United in the long-term. With Mourinho you are guaranteed short-term success and thus efforts can be focused on long-term recruitment.
Furthermore, Van Gaal had already stated that he would retire at the end of the 2016/17 campaign so United did not have an extended plan in place anyway.
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Mourinho has been unfairly plagued by accusations that have been wrongly extrapolated. If he is installed with a budget and a transfer window in order to make what would only be minor personnel changes, there is no doubt that he can get Manchester United playing champagne football again. As for longevity, Mourinho’s short-term nature may actually facilitate the club’s long-term planning.