Injured.
Jose Mourinho | 2017/18 Assessments | Poll Added
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Injured.
Left back and signing a winger were not the least of our worries. So why did he not have any alternative to Perisic? It’s not like Perisic is some young player that we can wait for next year.
Left back was a priority. Shaw is rarely fit. Darmian and Blind are not good enough. Young and Valencia are in their 30s, one injury to one of them and suddenly we playing one of the above who aren’t as effective in attack.
To make a budget he needs to sell players. He failed to do so in the summer. Lots of Italian clubs wanted Darmian, so we should have got shot. Fellaini was wanted too.
Aye, well mores the case then. I thought he came back for a bit and was out of the picture while the contract is up in the air.
Come on Young's form has been a surprise. Even to the manager. There's no way going into the season he planned on Young being his first choice left back.
Actually that'd be an interesting question for a journalist to ask. What was his plan for left back. Same goes for right wing.
Agree there's only so much you can do in two summers but he definitely needs to get on with it now. Don't waste January.
Surely his plan was Peresic for LB/LWB
I didn’t say he should have sold Herrera or Mkhitaryan last summer. I said after their showings this season they should be added to that list.
Why would Jose have been mad to sell Mata this summer? He’s looked a shadow of the player he was at Chelsea under three managers. He’s not been good enough. Get a fee for him and move on. Replace him with a winger.
Fellaini has pulled his weight. But he’s never been a Manchester United player. This summer was our last chance to get a decent fee for him. It would be madness giving him a multiple year contract similar to what Moyes did with Rooney.
Blinds a squad player but we already have Shaw and Darmian. So two of them should go and we sign a proper fullback rather than playing squad players there and relying on fullbacks in their 30s.
But given that didn't come off what was his backup plan? It wasn't Young. It obviously wasn't Shaw given it's taken months for him to get a kick. I can't remember who started the first few games there. Scary if he though Darmian or Blind were good enough.
I'm not convinced Perisic was destined for a permanent wing back role either. Had he come I think he'd have been more a traditional left winger. Still leaving that left back spot vacant.
That's not how it works. The Chelsea players literally gave up under him. It was the same team that won the league either side of that pathetic campaign.
How is that related to the players not arsed for such a game ? Actually why is that kept getting told each time we lose a game ? He lost the dressing room at Chelsea at this time, alright, but that has feck all to do with losing a cup game in an already very good season so far.
If we need a specific manager to beat a championship team, we have loads and loads of problems then.
I don't think we had a bad team either BTW. It's just or bench and squad options are shockingly poor. We definitely don't have a good depth at all. We had a strong main lineup, but that's it.
I think Sarri would be an excellent fit if only because his style fits our youngest and most talented players.
it's easy to see Martial becoming an Insigne like LW and Rashford being a pacier even more skilled Callejon, though Lukaku and Mertens are about as different as a 9 can be so that would be different. I haven't seen a ton of Milik as a 9 for them but that's probably a bit closer if only for size and that he's a 9 and not a winger playing as a false 9.
The 4-3-3 would be a good fit for Pogba and likely for Pereira and Herrera, though I think we'd buy another 8 and sell off Fellaini.
Matic isn't a perfect fit as a 6 but he's technically better than most and a really good short passer between the lines so I think would do well, though maybe we'd look to buy a 2nd passer there like Jorginho from Napoli or Weigl if we wanted a younger player who could take over longterm from Matic.
Shaw and the new LB we need no matter who is the manager would give us pace at LB like Ghoulam gives them. Valencia would do well I think, at RB, less sure about Young. Darmian might come back to life under an Italian too.
I do think the CBs might struggle with the work required and without Mourinho protecting them as much, but Lindelof can pass and if Raul Albiol can look competent, presumably one of Bailly or Rojo could do.
De Gea is a better version of Reina in every respect so no worries there.
And it would be fun to have a team worth watching.
TLDR: Sarri would be great, though the CBs and possibly Lukaku (who honestly might even even end up benched with Martial or Rashford winning the 9 job) might find it a tough adjustment.
One thing you have to love about these attacking coaches is how much they get out of attacking players. It's no surprise Messi exploded so much after Pep took over Barca, look at Insigne at Napoli or Sane/Sterling at City, Salah/Mane at Pool. We have the money to go toe to toe with City but prefer to bob and weave.
He cant sell everyone at once.
No shit Sherlock. But he could have started the clear out in the summer. What’s the point of keeping someone like Darmian?
It's pretty obvious. Ensuring the players are mentally switched on is part of the job of the manager. And yes you need to be switched on even when you're up against a weaker team. If people are claiming that we didn't try then that's also part the managers job. The Chelsea capitulation and subsequent ressurection is just another example of how important the players motivation/happiness/attitude is, and the part the manager plays in that.
I get it. You love skirting around any criticising of Jose. But I'm afraid he will get blamed when we lose to a championship team. It is his team. He is their manager. Whether it's Madrid or Bristol City.
I'd have loved that. But while we'd definitely play sexier football under other managers, there's no guarantee we'd actually do better or achieve more. There are many ways to reach your destination.
What guarantees are there in football? Our aim should always be to achieve sustained success playing attacking football. That's what this club is about, sadly that will not happen under this current regime.
Always the players fault never takes blame himself
Yeah. Martial has his faults, but his dribbling is so good I could see him becoming a terror under the right manager. The converse is that Mourinho gets a lot out of defensive players and guys like Young and Rojo and Jones might look worse under a more attacking manager.
I watch every game but I'm a bit more anhedonic about results as I get older and I've always loved passing (even if it's slow, I was rooting for Van Gaal to figure out a way to still attack while retaining so much possession), so I'm desperate for a manager who plays good football even if there's a good chance we fall back to Arsenal or Liverpool's level in the short term. In the long term, I think our insane wealth and popularity will see us mostly in good stead anyways so why not try to play some good stuff.
Yep. I said it before, but a huge criticism I have about Mourinho is that we are the only club who is choosing to build a pragmatic, stifling, defensive side but has pretty much unlimited funds. You look at all the richest teams in the world, teams who can easily outspent the rest - Barca, Real Madrid, Bayern, City, United and PSG. We are the only one of that group who isn't building towards a team that can dominate and attack and outplay opponents. Styles that we are becoming comparable to is shit like Atletico Madrid. Now fair fecks to them, they did the best they can to compete with Barca and Madrid. They could never compete with that attack because of no money, so they built a tremendous defensive side. But that's the key thing - they didn't have the money for more. Mourinho had a clean slate and pretty much unlimited funds. He chose to build a team that can be pragmatic, defensive and just grind out results and bought essentially a target man up front who does pretty much nothing in the whole build up. And thats his undoing. He doesnt aspire for more then being a defensive, pragmatic side who will always react to opposition, never being the one to take the front foot and just outplay the opposition in pure footballing terms. So that's my biggest annoyance.
There's no guarantee of success one way or another. It's not like we are doing any good in big games playing shite, negative football, so why don't we try and dominate games and outplay the opposition in them? We might lose anyway, but we might win as well. Nobody knows. Though I'd bet with the right system we would win more often then not in big games, as we simply have better players in most positions, or can buy them if needed.
People should stop saying it's a mickey mouse cup when we were happy to win it last year. As for today, it was the 3rd game in a row where we look clueless in attack and now have Pogba back and it wasn't any better. We have no attacking structure or rhythm, it's like he's just sending people out there and leaving them to their own devices going forward. I hate his reactionary approach to attacking. Players were fecking shite too today but lets not deflect any criticism from the manager today.
If the players weren't arsed last night, then this should be even more worrying than Jose making tactical mistakes. The first task of a manager is to motivate his players. This comes before any tactics. Youn don't need tactics to beat Bristol when you have fielded a team full with internationals and some of the brightest talents in the world.
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It was his giant master plan. To avoid the two-legged semis and keep the players fresh for league, FA Cup and champions league exertions... 
Really disappointed what he said they are lucky after the game. Yes. We hit the post twice but we didn’t dominate the game. The result is fair to Bristol City and United deserve to lose of that awful performance.
Now you clearly didn't watch us when SAF was a manager. We played counter attacking football just as like we do now, we parked the bus away against TOP teams such as Liverpool, Real etc. We never tried to win possession and were constantly outplayed by smaller clubs especially in the last few years SAF was in charge, yet we won. The only difference is the quality of players. We don't have Ronaldo, in form Rooney, Nani, Scholes, Evra, Vidic, Rio etc. The current squad is so bad I don't even know what type of football is possible to play with them, you can clearly see the squad is from 4 different managers with completely different ideas. We can't play possession football because the only player in the team who can keep the ball under pressure is Pogba. We can't play counter attacking football because right side is completely dead and been so for ages, AM and LW are more inconsistent than some of the posters' mood over here.
Seeing people complaining about the style of football and saying Mou should be sacked is hilarious to say the least. How about we start from basics? I see you forgot our league positions the last 4 seasons. Did someone expect us to win quadruple this year? Reading the comments I think most of you did and you probably need a reality check. Yes, we lost to Bristol and Mou is partially to blame for selecting a second team but the rotation was necessary. Contrary to most deluded fans here I think finishing 2nd and having a nice run in CL and FA would be a decent season and definite improvement from last few years.
He had Young playing there last season as well tho and to be honest I’ve not been that enamered with Young’s form this season. Certainly been good in some games but I think like we always do his performances have been blown out of proportion.
On Shaw Jose said at 1 point last year Shaw is the best LB in the club(weird thing to say, although I don’t disagree) so he obviously must see something in Shaw.
Maybe you’re right about Peresic and maybe it was just for the LW. I’m glad for one that deal never came off because he’s rubbish.
That’s what people complain about, the team not doing the fundamental basics of football. We are waiting to see that because it looks more like playground football currently when we go forward.
You can say that about every single team bar City this season. Chelsea struggling in attack and I think they clearly miss Costa, Liverpool cannot defend and Arsenal can't do anything. Funny thing is, we, playing a playground football are 2nd by goals scored and GD.
Look, I am not Jose fanboy or whatever but I just think (based on last ~5 years) that it can be way worse and I think we are finally moving right direction. Sacking managers is easy but what's then? Who is out there available who can do a better job and wouldn't need another 3 years rebuilding? How about we finally stick with someone and let them finish what they started? Due to our stupid decisions our squad is a mess and a mix from 3-4 managers with completely different ideas.
Agreed. Left a bad taste I think.
Bristol City played out of their skin - there’s no need for him to be a twat regarding them.
So there are actually people who've convinced themselves that Sir Alex and Mou played the same style of football?
Unfortunately there are.
We never really dominate games, and that's the risk when that happens. We never really look in total control and a result like that was coming.West Brom, Brighton and Bournemouth all come to mind. Happy to sit and keep it tight instead of pushing on.
He's done a good job and there's certainly been a big improvement, but if he was to go at the end of the season or PSG want him, I wouldn't be unhappy if he left.
He's done a good job and there's certainly been a big improvement, but if he was to go at the end of the season or PSG want him, I wouldn't be unhappy if he left.
I don’t think sacking is the way to go either and i’m happy to give him another year. The issue that I see is that he doesn’t look like he is building towards anything at all.
I’d honestly thought the whole “he doesn’t train attacking” he doesn’t do this and that was just hyperbole but honestly watching us, it does look like he Just banks on having great players just doing something. There is absolutely no structure to anything we do other than when we defend deep. It really just looks so poor and it is amazing we are in the position we are and with the tallies and records we’ve broken. Performances there haven’t been many great ones but then Jose has never really been about that so it’s to be expected.
I don’t agree that Chelsea,Arsenal and pool don’t have structure and work patterns. Their patterns are all very clear when you watch them and they all pass and move. Our guys pass and watch.
Unfortunately yes. It’s quite pathetic.
@dove I question your memory if you think Mourinho's football is usually similar to SAF's.
I said something similar the other day. You look at City and you can see Pep’s influence on the team. You look at Liverpool and they are playing the Klopp way. Tottenham the same with Poch.
But I don’t see any distinct style from this Mourinho United team other than sitting back and defending for our lives between the odd counter attack. We look directionless.
LVG was a fecking disaster, but at least you could see his style of possession football imprinted on the team. It was god awful, but it was instantly identifiable as a Van Gaal style of play.
I just don’t know where we are going with Mourinho. After 18 months the team should be functioning under a managers style, not being just a group of individuals on a pitch that don’t look like they’ve ever trained let alone played together.
There are hordes of such people. There are loads of posts making a comparison of the 2.
Like there are hordes of people convinced sacking Jose would solve all our problems even though everyone including you knows that it would set us back another couple of years.There are hordes of such people. There are loads of posts making a comparison of the 2.
We needed a back up fullback? Also you've mentioned players he just wanted to keep as he rates them such as Fellaini. No need for the cnuty tone either.
Sacking a manager doesn't always mean a club has to go back two years. We've got some a few players who could use a coach that prides himself on some attacking impetus. Madrid sacked him, won the CL the season after, Chelsea sacked him and won the title the year after. There's been some improvements but is it enough? He spent 300 million quid, there's bound to be an improvement. Is the improvement enough, not Imo given what we're watching. Stability is great when the right man is in charge, I think he's far from that.
Its amazing, just listen to Sir Alex former player talk about what he was about. Cole said he used to tell them they have the responsibility to entertain the masses, Van Persie said that they'd be times when he'd come in at half time and tell them they are boring him death and someone better go out there and do something to make the match worth watching, even said he'd mention thongs like nutmegs. Imagine Jose ever talking like that.There are hordes of such people. There are loads of posts making a comparison of the 2.
challenging for major honours I guess, winning at all costs. What Jose team had an identifiable style? I feel his first Chelsea played differently to other teams. For the 1st half of his second Chelsea spell, they were playing great football, until Spurs beat them and they went all defensive.
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