Jose Mourinho | 2017/18 Assessments | Poll Added

Your stance

  • Top manager in charge of a major rebuild. Needs more time and/or money.

    Votes: 684 43.8%

  • Made improvements but we've stagnated. Sack him if we drop out of top 4

    Votes: 377 24.1%

  • He's not the right fit. Sack him and get someone else who can get more out of our squad

    Votes: 502 32.1%
  • Total voters
    1,563
  • Poll closed .
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YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
It's not about one defender, it's the team as a whole. We are clearly instructed to just defend in our own territory without putting any pressure on the ball-holder.
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That's because of Smalling, who is a box defender. If you play a high line with Smalling then you are asking for trouble. We have played a high line against many teams with other CB combinations; but when Smalling plays we almost always play a low block.

Mourinho is not afraid of a high line; when he has ball players in defense he actually prefers it. But he also adapts his tactics to the team.
 
Jonno said:
Funny that isn't it, that Klopp has won feck all with Liverpool. Yet Mourinho has won two major cups already in half the time at United.
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These "Manager XYZ has won feck all" arguments are extremely lazy. Would you rather have Fabio Capello or Pochettino? Ranieri or Klopp? Roberto Di Mateo or Tuchel? Let's just retire this god-awful argument.
 
breakout67 said:
That's because of Smalling, who is a box defender. If you play a high line with Smalling then you are asking for trouble. We have played a high line against many teams with other CB combinations; but when Smalling plays we almost always play a low block.

Mourinho is not afraid of a high line; when he has ball players in defense he actually prefers it. But he also adapts his tactics to the team.
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Haven't noticed it tbh, but you may be right. But why does he insist on still playing Smalling then - Assuming he would prefer pressing rather than defending from deep?
 
breakout67 said:
That's because of Smalling, who is a box defender. If you play a high line with Smalling then you are asking for trouble. We have played a high line against many teams with other CB combinations; but when Smalling plays we almost always play a low block.

Mourinho is not afraid of a high line; when he has ball players in defense he actually prefers it. But he also adapts his tactics to the team.
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Well Smalling's best form ever was in Van Gaal's high line.
 
Just fed up of him now.

We don’t seem to have any real long term plan for this side.

Would anyone be surprised if we are still performing like this next season?
 
YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
Haven't noticed it tbh, but you may be right. But why does he insist on still playing Smalling then - Assuming he would prefer pressing rather than defending from deep?
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He adapts to what is available for selection. We had our annual injury crisis in defense so Smalling was the one that was in the best condition. Playing a high line against certain teams is also not ideal and these teams usually rely on set pieces for goals so Smalling is good against those.

He prefers playing a high line; but doesn't mind changing to a low block if the circumstances require it. He played a high line at Madrid, but when he came to Chelsea he used a low block because his best defenders were Terry and Cahill.
 
Bwuk said:
Just fed up of him now.

We don’t seem to have any real long term plan for this side.

Would anyone be surprised if we are still performing like this next season?
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I think what is worrying is that the players may be fed up with the defensive tactics and no plan in attack. You never know if we will suddently click towards the end of the season, but the signs right now are not pointing in that direction. If we keep half-arsing it to the end like this, i think the board would have to do something. Sometimes you just have to shake things up and the easiest way to do it is with a new manager.

There is no fire in this team right now, we don't look happy on the pitch.
 
Adisa said:
I don't get the "tactical masterclass" angle.
Any tactics that requires your GK needing to make worldie saves sounds flawed to me.
Sevilla buries two of their chances and we're here having a post mortem.
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This is what's bothering me, too. How is this a typical "Mourinho masterclass" if it came down to multiple absurd saves to keep the game from getting out of hand?

I'm not saying he should be sacked, because we've obviously improved since LVG, but our style of play recently has become consistently worrying. We have a pretty solid group of attacking players and mostly reliable players in midfield (even if Matic is losing his legs a bit), but we play like a bunch of individuals who have no idea how to work together in a cohesive system and break down other teams.
 
pseudo_canadian said:
This is the first time I've truly started to doubt him a little bit.

Are his tactics outdated? Or is there more to it than that?
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Definitely are.

But that's not the biggest problem. He lost his "winning mentality" and he has zero chemistry with players (EG, Materazzi used to say he'd die for Mou on the pitch, now we have reports that players aren't satisfied. Same happened in RM and Chelsea. I think Hazard still hates him). Basically, he can spend 500 mils more, it won't make a difference. He "killed" Alexis, Martial, Lukaku, Pogba... Everyone.

Problem is we play SAME football versus every single team, doesn't matter if it's Bristol, Huddersfield or Sevilla, it's the same.
 
YouOnlyLiveTwice said:
I think what is worrying is that the players may be fed up with the defensive tactics and no plan in attack. You never know if we will suddently click towards the end of the season, but the signs right now are not pointing in that direction. If we keep half-arsing it to the end like this, i think the board would have to do something. Sometimes you just have to shake things up and the easiest way to do it is with a new manager.

There is no fire in this team right now, we don't look happy on the pitch.
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If we get the result this season, CL place for next season and possibly a trophy then the board won't touch him and rightly so. Although performances might be like this till the end.
 
Ban said:
If we get the result this season, CL place for next season and possibly a trophy then the board won't touch him and rightly so. Although performances might be like this till the end.
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I don't think they will either. But i'm not sure i would agree with that decision.
 
Just read a report from SI that Pogba is being offered by Raiola to clubs this summer. If true, Jose can take a hike! When you factor in his negative (although he'd argue practical) tactics and shity player management, we may need to make a decision this summer. I chose Pogba over Mourinho going forward easily.
 
Utd7 said:
Just read a report from SI that Pogba is being offered by Raiola to clubs this summer. If true, Jose can take a hike! When you factor in his negative (although he'd argue practical) tactics and shity player management, we may need to make a decision this summer. I chose Pogba over Mourinho going forward easily.
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Ah, going forward yes but what about defensively?
 
Utd7 said:
Just read a report from SI that Pogba is being offered by Raiola to clubs this summer. If true, Jose can take a hike! When you factor in his negative (although he'd argue practical) tactics and shity player management, we may need to make a decision this summer. I chose Pogba over Mourinho going forward easily.
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SI being Sports Illustrated?

Doubt they have good sources.
 
Utd7 said:
Just read a report from SI that Pogba is being offered by Raiola to clubs this summer. If true, Jose can take a hike! When you factor in his negative (although he'd argue practical) tactics and shity player management, we may need to make a decision this summer. I chose Pogba over Mourinho going forward easily.
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SI?
how do they know what will Raiola do this summer.
 
Jonno said:
let's re-visit this thread after the 2nd leg. So many people quick to judge, so many to predict we're heading out of the Champions League, yet will not open their eyes to the possibility that we play much better at OT and could win 2-0, 3-0 and progress to the Quarter Finals.
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Quick to judge? Many, like myself, have been criticising his football for a while now. It isn't good enough.
parkthebuslads said:
I don't understand how anyone can defend the job he's doing here. This is not normal.
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Because they've put all their hopes on him being the one after Sir Alex.
Kag said:
I'm reaching that Moyes/Van Gaal feeling of assumption. The one in which I know the next game is going one one dry, drab affair. Which is a real shame because this time we have some really, really good players all over the team. We're capable of being so much more.
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I reached that point a few months ago. Nothing's changing.
 
Utd7 said:
Reporter is Grant Wahl, he's fairly reliable in the States.

And his report isn't that far fetched. No way Pogba and Raiola will put up with this BS.
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First time I've heard about him.

What stories did he broke?

Journos sometimes invent stories. Most of the time really.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
He wrote the "Beckham Experiment". And I do not think journalists invent stories.
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Oh but they do. A lot.

For instance about transfers or dressing room rifts and whatnot. For instance if Raiola won't do anything this summer it will turn out that journo lied.
 
PlayerOne said:
Funny thing is, we play defensive football but we still give away chances and space. Against a better team, this game doesn't end 0-0
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Exactly this. We give away more key chances than all the other top 6 teams bar Arsenal! I don't think we're good at anything under José. Thank god for de Gea.
 
Pyroblazer said:
The problem is you and some others are acting like we defended well tonight to get a 0-0, we didn't. Jose doesn't deserve any credit for today's result. We were piss poor and outplayed for 90 minutes. If it wasn't for Sevilla beeing that wasteful or De Gea we could have lost 3-0.
Mourinho's plan for games like this these days seems to be nick a goal and prey that Dave saves everything.
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You are right, will anyone in the you blame De gea or even Martial if they opt to leave ?
Utd7 said:
Reporter is Grant Wahl, he's fairly reliable in the States.

And his report isn't that far fetched. No way Pogba and Raiola will put up with this BS.
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You are right, and if i am Pogba, why will i want to stay ? A coach with historic records of not utilizing attracting players. Martial should go too, to be honest, why will any young promising player want to play for a coach that have the tendency to self implode ?
Mkhi first, looks like Pogba now, why did he signed them in the first place ? for their defending attributes ?
Part of me dont blame Mou, cos he is being true to his nature. It is our board, which till have it within their footballing knowledge or lack of, to extend his contract i blame.
Do we wonder why the Barcelona, Real Mardid, Bayern, etc remain a strong force in their respective league and in Europe ? They have board with sensible footballing mind.
 
Ban said:
Oh but they do. A lot.

For instance about transfers or dressing room rifts and whatnot. For instance if Raiola won't do anything this summer it will turn out that journo lied.
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Transfer rumors are coming from agents and clubs as either a negotiation tactic or a way for an agent to raise the profile of one of their clients.
 
I wish my threads were as popular as this one...
 
First time I've said it, and in all honesty felt it, but something really doesn't feel right at the moment.

The poor performances/disappointing results, the Pogba scenario, Alexis not really impacting the team the way many thought, frailties at the back. I couldn't tell you exactly where I thought we'd be/how we'd be playing just over a season and a half into Jose's time here, but if you were to show me a list of the players we currently have at our disposal in contrast to the style of football we're playing, I'd expect way more from this.

I know we're second, but I think we'll have a real fight to stay there from here on in. On tonight's performance, Sevilla look to be at a similar level to us. Stylistically, we're miles behind the rest of the top 6.
 
breakout67 said:
That's because of Smalling, who is a box defender. If you play a high line with Smalling then you are asking for trouble. We have played a high line against many teams with other CB combinations; but when Smalling plays we almost always play a low block.

Mourinho is not afraid of a high line; when he has ball players in defense he actually prefers it. But he also adapts his tactics to the team.
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This.
It may be ugly but what Mourinho is trying to create is a winning solid mentality along with having options. Even under SAF we had 100 ways to progress if anyone remembers our dirty Arsenal matches
 
When is one of these options going to be playing some sexy football? Surely we’ve the personnel to just send a team without the handbrake on?
 
leet said:
Because your post makes zero sense. No quality? Seriously? It's not like we have Rochdale's players. Not even City has better roster than United, but problem isn't with players.
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I didn’t say we had no quality so I don’t know what you’re arguing about. You’re using outrages examples to make your point seem more pertinent and it doesn’t.

Herrera has been shite all season and McTominay started in midfield. If you think that’s a midfield dripping in quality then you’re free to do so.
 
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