Jose Mourinho | 2017/18 Assessments | Poll Added

[RedDevilRoshi]

Personally I’ve lost faith in him now. I was a big defender of him but tonight was the final straw. How he can say that there are positives to take from that performance is bewildering! This is the poorest Sevilla side in a very long time and we played like cowards against them over the two legs. No urgency, no application, no desire or intent. Just simply nothing. We played as if we didn’t need to win tonight as if we had wrapped everything up in the 1st leg.

Jose also mentioned during his post match interview that “a very good team like Tottenham are in the same boat as us” as they have also been knocked out of the CL and only have the FA Cup & top 4 to play for. Sorry but that comment is up there Moyes’ “we inspire to be like Man City” bullshit. This is not Tottenham, this is Manchester United.

 

[R'hllor]

Replacing Mourinho this summer would be the safest way of setting the club back years. A new manager would implement a new style, bring new staff, and to a certain degree new players. Tick tock.
I’m confident Mourinho will win the PL in the next two years.

That depends of a new manager and its not 100% rule.

 

[RedSky]

Our level is losing to the 5th best team in La Liga?

A proactive manager would have got more from this team, I am so sure of it.

If im the owner, id spend whatevers needed to get Pochetino over to Manchester.

Our level was being beaten either in the last 16 or quarters. I thought we'd beat Sevilla and get knocked out in the quarters though. Sevilla aren't exactly terrible, they've had a poorer season than usual but have excelled in Europa League last few seasons so it's no shock that they beat us in a knockout competition and yes losing to the 5th best team in La Liga is probably our current level.

I do agree with your last sentence though. I'd take Pochettino here, thats mainly because i've watched a decent amount of Tottenham play in the last 3 seasons (living with a Spurs fan) and they play very good football imo.

 

[Kush]

We had 3 shots on target and Sevilla had 6. United didn't out-do Sevilla in any aspect - even their defending was superior.

Indeed and that's what I said he tried to negate Sevilla and didn't setup to his own strengths but this is something he has been doing all his career. This tie was no different to his stereotypical approach but the personnel and tactics which he picked didn't work. That doesn't mean his intention behind this performance was any different, he pretty much said it in his interview he planned to grind out a result tonight.

That is what people are commenting on. Not the bloody philisophy of Jose Mourinho like some academic discussion. We're talking about the bloody game tonight. Telling people to calm down like they don't have the right to point out the obvious makes you sound like a bloody know-it-all. And you still do.

I pretty much said in my posts multiple times, it's okay to let out and criticize because he deserves it. My original point was some folks expected (and still do) for Mourinho to do away with his negative approach and play a progressive/new brand of attacking football which is line with the traditions at Manchester United just because he's a manager here. He's never going to discard what he knows to please fans of our club. He's going to win his way or get sacked while trying to do it. It's pretty much what has happened over last 15 years.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Woodward needs to keep his ears close to the ground between now and the end of season. Seriously he should start testing the waters with Tuchel,Sarri etc we need to start taking some risks if we want to get back to the top.

 

[Bobski]

That comment on Utd's history. What an arsehole the man is, doesn't care about the club in the slightest, just in it for his own ego.

 

[Canagel]

This post says everything I have realised recently, we are a stupid team.



Another reactive manager rather than pro active. Im done with these type of guys. I want a manager thats going to try and impose his teams tactics on most of the teams.

His teams know how to attack though. He is the best tactician out there. Probably the best in the world. We would keep the solidity in defence and at the same time get the best out of our attacking quality. Its a no brainer if he's available to build on what Mourinho will leave behind. We need to snap him up before Chelsea or Arsenal do.

 

[Rajma]

That comment on Utd's history. What an arsehole the man is, doesn't care about the club in the slightest, just in it for his own ego.

Bingo.

 

[SteveW]

I'm very unhappy with today. I'm trying to figure out if it means I've lost faith in Mourinho or if it's because of how bad it feels to go out now, in this way.

I am happy that you took me up on my request to get a source for the quotes.
As for the quote itself, I'm neither happy nor unhappy with them as it seems to me that it was just a unfortunate way of explaining that the nature of the Champions League means that clubs will go out before they think they deserve to or something to that effect.
I understand how people can see it as him washing his hands here or trying to show himself in a better light than the club since he's talking about times when he knocked United out, but I don't think that is what he intended, nevertheless the fact that he used those words means I can accept it if people lose faith in him or are angered by his way of speaking.

My extreme negative feelings currently however feels mostly down to how poor we set up (in my opinion) & the lack of effort and focus from the players.
I think Fellaini & Matic as a duo is too slow regardless of who the 3rd midfielder would be (hell, even Kante stamina with Bolt speed wouldn't make them a good duo in my opinion), and I don't get why McTominay wasn't trusted ahead of a recently injured Fellaini, or why Rashford was started out on the right, or why he spent so long before changing things up in our midfield & attack.

I think he had a massive miss today in his tactical and personell choices, and those annoy me to no end as opposed to the quotes I feel were taken out of context to make his poor wording seem as him bashing the club and washing his hands.

I think in a purely football sense everyone is annoyed and rightly so.

But managing this club is an honour and I think you have to show the job and the club some respect when you speak. It was petty, self serving and showed zero respect towards the club. Saying it's not the end of the world and not unusual for this club to be knocked out was a disgraceful tone to take. The fact that he then managed to bring it around to mentioning all the times he himself had knocked us out was nauseating. He's not one of us.

 

[walkinhop]

Maybe.

But next season will be more of the same of this kind of football.

Jose just isn't a long term manager.

Honestly, i don't care if he is or isn't. We don't have the excuses anymore. We have literally everything on a silver plate for whoever is competent enough to at least be among the 6 best in Europe. Anything worse is a failure and i don't care what the "top reds" have to say about it.

Now, is understandable to have bad spells during transition periods? Sure. However, we need to draw the line and call such periods over at some point, not experiment forever.

 

[JPRouve]

Ignoring the aesthetics of football for a moment, and even the results, a few things that simply aren’t acceptable for a supposed Mourinho team:

- we’re shite at defending set pieces, particularly corners
- we’re shite at attacking set pieces, particularly corners (even though we’re a team of giants)
- we play defensively yet we’re wide open defensively.
- we don’t counter-attack despite inviting the opposition into us

I can take the less than stylish football if the above elements were there. I’d happily see us become a defensively sound, sit back side, if it meant we were actually solid and counterattacked effectively. We’re nowhere near.

That's what bothers me the most. In the end aesthetic preferences are only preferences and it's not fair to judge a manager on them. But a team like United with its means need to be highly competent in the approach the manager chose, you can't continuously look like a disjointed unit that masters nothing.

 

[Ødegaard]

I think in a purely football sense everyone is annoyed and rightly so.

But managing this club is an honour and I think you have to show the job and the club some respect when you speak. It was petty, self serving and showed zero respect towards the club. Saying it's not the end of the world and not unusual for this club to be knocked out was a disgraceful tone to take. The fact that he then managed to bring it around to mentioning all the times he himself had knocked us out was nauseating. He's not one of us.

I can understand why you think/feel that way. I don't share the same feelings about the quotes, but that doesn't make yours invalid in any way.

 

[Suedesi]

This Sevilla side lost 5:1 to Spartak fckn Moscow. Let that sink in.

 

[Dinghy]

Mou: "I've sat in this chair twice before, with Porto - Man Utd out, with Real Madrid - Man Utd out, so this is nothing new for this football club." #MUFC

And both times he fluked it, unlike Sevilla, who actually deserved the win.

 

[bosnian_red]

Out of curiosity, if you sacked Mourinho now who would you bring in that would be a certainty in taking us further to the top?

Ancelotti I would take. Nobody Is a certainty, what you want though is somebody who matches your clubs ethos. We're a club built on entertaining fans. Mourinho was always going to be very reliant on providing trophies and big results, and since he's failed, there's literally no reason to keep him.

 

[Bojan11]

This Sevilla side lost 5:1 to Spartak fckn Moscow. Let that sink in.

They lost 5-1 to Eibar.

Atletico and Valencia in recent weeks beat them with ease.

 

[Minimalist]

One thing I certainly think is true is that there is an awful lot of hypocrisy when it comes to LVG vs Mourinho.

I am personally not one to criticise the aesthetics of a side provided the results occur as expected. LVG got fecking pelters for his 'boring side' that barely created chances in games (not always but too many games).

Frequently under Mourinho we have under 5 shots on target a match. Where are all these same people that hated LVGs football? I'm genuinely baffled how those people could think this is great viewing all of a sudden.

To confirm, while I thought it was fair that LVG step aside, I didn't care about his 'methods'. I didn't care about whether he got off his arse or not (a nauseating frequent complaint). These people did care and they now (as far as I'm concerned) sit silent during all of this.

 

[simonhch]

I was going to say that I have an almost irrational hatred for Mourinho at this point. But I think it's actually entirely rational.

 

[Al-T]

This Sevilla side lost 5:1 to Spartak fckn Moscow. Let that sink in.

Sevilla lost to Brighton they last time the played them. Just saying....

 

[Jig1234]

I thought the performance tonight was terrible but Mourinho's comments are just as worse.

 

[Ban]

In that game, Mourinho actually abandoned his principles. We did not put 100% on the pitch, we were defensively open, so many individual errors which indicates poor preparation. This does not feel like Jose Mourinho, in fact Jose Mourinho actually got Jose Mourinho'd by the Sevilla manager! We are in a difficult situation, because Jose Mourinho's world record signing is stinking up the place as well.

If we get rid of him, we could either go up another level, or we could go back to mediocrity. To be honest, I wouldn't be against bringing in Carlo Ancelotti next season, because he has a history of doing well when inheriting a Mourinho team. But, I also wouldn't mind Mourinho getting another season because he'll almost certainly get us top 4 again next season, which has been a difficult thing for us.

Carlo Ancelotti should be the last man we should go for, never a good league manager, old and another short term fix.

 

[whatwha]

So what the feck was that Jose? Embarrassing.

We've been crap all year. Anyone who thinks our performances against Liverpool or Chelsea prove otherwise have questionable standards. I'd have been impressed if West Brom won those two games with our tactics, but not Manchester United. We continue to play passive football - if the opposition don't play the way we expect them to do, we're nothing. Sevilla are not a great team, and they made us look small time. Why weren't we on the front foot here? Shit scared of conceding an away goal? Grow some balls. It's like it's always about the opposition, never about us. Never mind the players, never mind the tactics, we continue to play like a small team with a small mindset.

We all want success, but come on now enough's enough. SAF didn't always have great players, but he always had players who believed they were great - he made sure of that. Jose highlights his teams perceived weaknesses with his tactics in almost every match, and I think that has probably taken its toll. Change in the summer? Well I see very little reason to hope he stays. 2nd in the league? I suppose if you're a fan of stats rather than football you could be somewhat happy...

The reactive football is definitely a problem.

 

[Jim Beam]

Pretty stupid comment.

Got himself and no one to blame for tonight. The decision to leave Matic on his own in the midfield cost him the game. And our approach in the first game in hindsight doesn't look so great.

 

[Loublaze]

Pep had 3 fantastic seasons at Barcelona.

Enrique's team got worse and worse as the seasons progressed.

Its not like he left Barcelona in tatters. He won the copa del rey the season he left and Barcelona were champions the season before

 

[extincti fugax hominum]

Whenever you Doubt mourinho watch this.

I understand your point and agree with you because i remember thinking exactly like that when i watched this documentary more than a couple of times but unfortunately the current Mourinho is a much changed man compared to his 2010 self. Actually, that was probably the time when his "downfall" started. And his stint at Real which was full of fight and conflict, hurt him badly. This Mourinho is a depressed, too negative and dispirited man compared to his old self. He urgently needs to reinvent himself especially tactically because it is not looking good for him and his career in the last few years. He was a fearless man who had the perfect balance between attacking and defending when he was at Chelsea for instance but turned into a complete coward in terms of playing style since the last few years. I don't know if it comes from his arrogance to prove that he can still win while playing too defensively or from his stubbornness on not to play attacking football but apparently it can't go on like that. No big club will accept this play style when not winning things.

 

[JPRouve]

Ancelotti I would take. Nobody Is a certainty, what you want though is somebody who matches your clubs ethos. We're a club built on entertaining fans. Mourinho was always going to be very reliant on providing trophies and big results, and since he's failed, there's literally no reason to keep him.

Ancelotti probably lack any sort of fire and he isn't exactly known for entertaining football, I have always liked him but it's too late. We need a young'un.

 

[Paxi]

They lost 5-1 to Eibar.

Atletico and Valencia in recent weeks beat them with ease.

fecking horrific that we we're so shite against Sevilla. They can be decent on their day - well before your other Manager got sacked - which makes it even worse.

 

[kouroux]

It takes clips from almost a decade ago to show Mourinho at his best then...

 

[Tapori]

I am a massive Jose Mourinho fan but tonight.

Deary me; It's all on him this one.

From the lineup, to the tactics to the post-match, he's royally fecked up.
We can all appreciate the tactics of conservatism and caution in big matches against strong attacking units and meaning no disrespect for Seville, that performance tonight really depressed me.

Even the late charge post Lukaku goal was tepid. The players have it in them to attack as we have seen against palace and the 1st half against Liverpool.

Either Jose learns to balance his pragmatism with games like this where he really should be attacking full throttle early on or else his days will be numbered; the fans will only tolerate so much.

A big turning point for Jose; does he change and adapt or does he stick to his caution all the time?

 

[SirAF]

It takes clips from almost a decade ago to show Mourinho at his best then...

I’m sure there are clips from winning the Premier League three years ago too.

 

[Ekkie Thump]

It takes clips from almost a decade ago to show Mourinho at his best then...

 

[Frank Grimes]

I got pelters in the Mourinho/De Boer thread yesterday for calling out Mourinho as a knob,(bad sign when your manager is getting in a silly little dig on the eve of the biggest match of our season) it's plain to see he is always about the self preservation. Being a knob is one thing but not being able to get the best out of our attacking players and having to endure his cowardly football is another, we can do better.

 

[El Zoido]

Even the Man Utd reddevils subreddit appears to have turned on Jose, and they usually defend him no matter what.

 

[Member 109952]

Sack Mourinho Sell Pogba

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

Would anyone seriously trust this man with another £250m to spend on players?

Give him £10m to bog off and rid ourself of his stench, will be best investment we can do.

I think a better question would be "would anyone trust Mourinho to take Utd to the next level". I think his recruitment has been fairly decent, but i don't think we will reach a level under him, that most fans expect us to be at.

 

[kouroux]

I’m sure there are clips from winning the Premier League three years ago too.

In the CL, I mean

 

[Bojan11]

Even the Man Utd reddevils subreddit appears to have turned on Jose, and they usually defend him no matter what.

Well today was the last straw for many.

We treated Seville as they were Bayern or Real. No idea why we were so conservative.

 

[manunited1919]

What the hell? The truth is we were never going to win the PL. CL and FA cup should be priority and our only hope to win trophy. Beating Manchester City won't win us the PL anyway, but winning against Sevilla would give us a equal chance to other seven teams to complete for CL.

Yes, we should have won today. But even if we had won, we had a very uphill battle in the CL, we don’t seem to be consistent enough or good enough in our performances. Now that we have been knocked out, I would at least like to see us beat the shit out of City, just for the sake of it. I understand there’s no trophy involved, but I still want us to beat the hell out of them.

 

[JPRouve]

I got pelters in the Mourinho/De Boer thread yesterday for calling out Mourinho as a knob,(bad sign when your manager is getting in a silly little dig on the eve of the biggest match of our season) it's plain to see he is always about the self preservation. Being a knob is one thing but not being able to get the best out of our attacking players and having to endure his cowardly football is another, we can do better.

You got pelters because Mourinho was right to responded to De Boer and your point was idiotic in that context, particularly when no one told you that he wasn't a knob.

 

[christy87]

LVG part 2, I’m bored, we are all fecking bored again, the football is brutal to watch and we aren’t even winning with it, sack him in the summer because it’s going nowhere, it’s been 5 years 3 managers and no sign of recovery, and in a month it will be 5 years since one of our players scored a hat trick in the league, with this football it could be another 5

 

[breakout67]

Carlo Ancelotti should be the last man we should go for, never a good league manager, old and another short term fix.

Carlo Ancelotti won the PL by inheriting a team filled with Mourinho players, he won the CL doing the same with Madrid.

I think the club have actually handled this situation quite well, they gave him a deserved extension, but a short one because we haven't improved to an elite team yet.

Ancelotti, Jardim, Sarri, Aleggri are all good successors to him. If he doesnt win the league or CL next season then I would like to see a new manager in.