Jose Mourinho | 2017/18 Assessments | Poll Added

[JohnnyKills]

Forget the FA Cup - the biggest game between now and the end of the season is City away.

Mourinho has the perfect chance to try out a different game plan, one which might actually work against good opposition.

No more bus-parking, no more hoofball, no more Fellaini. Let's go out there and actually take City on in a game of football. That doesn't mean trying to out-City them; it means devising our own gameplan that carries cohesion and attacking threat while neutralising City's strengths.

There's nothing riding on the result - we can comfortably seal CL qualification by winning the other games - so we've got the perfect chance to try something.

Mou's got two-and-a-half weeks to formulate that gameplan. Let's hope he can do it.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

I still believe he is the right choice, sometimes a few games can define a season and I think there is something deeper going on at the club that a new manager won't solve. We have a lot of players who perform better in different systems and a lot of players playing out of position, on top of that Pogba has gone off the boil completely and looks a shadow of what we thought we were getting. Sanchez hasn't performed well and needs to be dropped, Mourinho has had a bad game but had we managed to get the 1-0 half of these reactions aren't justified at all.

We need to play players in their positions though, Martial (LW) Mata (RW) Lukaku (Striker) with 3 behind, we are severely short of midfielders and our best one seems disinterested, I disagree as well that Rashford was part of the problem yesterday, several times beat his man or put good crosses in, he along with Lukaku can hold their head high, few others can.

 

[Cheesy]

One of my problems with our current style is that for a side that's very defence-orientated and focused on not conceding, we're not actually as good at the back as we should be. That's not necessarily down to Mourinho's approach, but more that the players we have aren't for the most part anywhere near the world class defenders he's had at other clubs, and tend to be error prone from time to time.

I'd argue Bailly's by far our best centre-back, but he's still young and can be quite rash. Smalling isn't an awful defender but makes far too many errors to be a consistent starter for a top team, and is notoriously shaky when he's on the ball. Jones is arguably quite similar in that he has good spells of form but really isn't all that reliable. Young and Valencia do competent jobs at full-back but are largely makeshift, although I'd argue Valencia's done enough over the past couple of seasons to now be regarded as a right-back as opposed to a winger playing out of position. Added into that is the fact we've not really got a constantly reliable shield in midfield in the mould of Makelele or Essien, and we're playing a pragmatic, defensive style that relies on the managerial organisation of our manager (which is very good) but which sometimes has a tendency to fall apart because our otherwise alright defenders are prone to errors, have lapses in concentration and aren't particularly good at defending from set-pieces.

All defenders make mistakes but I'd argue most Mourinho sides had more consistent defenders than we do currently. And as a result of that we can defend well for consistent periods, but when we have poor spells in a game (like when we conceded two last night) they're liable to temporarily collapse.

 

[L1nk]

Forget the FA Cup - the biggest game between now and the end of the season is City away.

Mourinho has the perfect chance to try out a different game plan, one which might actually work against good opposition.

No more bus-parking, no more hoofball, no more Fellaini. Let's go out there and actually take City on in a game of football. That doesn't mean trying to out-City them; it means devising our own gameplan that carries cohesion and attacking threat while neutralising City's strengths.

There's nothing riding on the result - we can comfortably seal CL qualification by winning the other games - so we've got the perfect chance to try something.

Mou's got two-and-a-half weeks to formulate that gameplan. Let's hope he can do it.

I would actually agree with this. If we go to City away and act as cowardly as did against Sevilla, which is highly likely, we are most likely going to get tonked and you see tides turning currently, I guarantee a lot of die hard supporters of him will lose faith if that happens.

 

[caid]

I actually think hes doing a good job. Wont miss him in the slightest when hes gone though.

 

[Sied]

What did you expect when you appointed Mourinho

When I'm reading posts slating Mourinho's defensive style I often wonder whether these same posters celebrated his appointment. This style of football was inevitable from the day he was appointed and that's why he wasn't my first choice. Generally it gets results though, which as far as I'm concerned is the most important thing. If it's getting results people will put up with it, but tumescent football that doesn't get results won't be tolerated for long. Certainly not at a club like United anyway.

 

[whatwha]

Changed my vote after last night.

 

[Stacks]

A couple of rival fans and those who watched the game yesterday said the annoying thing was when you wake up, Chelsea couldn't handle us, Sevilla too so we have attacking players who can hurt opponents. My Scouse colleague said "your fullbacks are wingers" so of course you have attacking potential"

 

[amolbhatia50k]

His third season at Chelsea was the first he didn't win the league after walking it the two years before, his third season at Inter didn't happen because he won the treble in his second season and then left, and his third season at Real saw them lose out on the title by 15 points.

 

[BluesJr]

Forget the FA Cup - the biggest game between now and the end of the season is City away.

Mourinho has the perfect chance to try out a different game plan, one which might actually work against good opposition.

No more bus-parking, no more hoofball, no more Fellaini. Let's go out there and actually take City on in a game of football. That doesn't mean trying to out-City them; it means devising our own gameplan that carries cohesion and attacking threat while neutralising City's strengths.

There's nothing riding on the result - we can comfortably seal CL qualification by winning the other games - so we've got the perfect chance to try something.

Mou's got two-and-a-half weeks to formulate that gameplan. Let's hope he can do it.

Expecting anything other than what we’ve seen so far is complete fantasy I’m afraid.

 

[caid]

When I'm reading posts slating Mourinho's defensive style I often wonder whether these same posters celebrated his appointment. This style of football was inevitable from the day he was appointed and that's why he wasn't my first choice. Generally it gets results though, which as far as I'm concerned is the most important thing. If it's getting results people will put up with it, but tumescent football that doesn't get results won't be tolerated for long. Certainly not at a club like United anyway.

Yep that pretty much covers my thoughts. Didn't particularly want him either, hes been a bit better than i expected though.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Expecting anything other than what we’ve seen so far is complete fantasy I’m afraid.

Yeah I agree, sadly. Let's hope Mou surprises us.

 

[PepsiCola]

Yo. Where's the Mkhi is a coward brigade?

Mourinho's game plan yesterday was one of the most cowardly I've seen in my life from United.

 

[Thisistheone]

You mean like his third season at Chelsea where he won a cup double? His third season at Inter when he won the treble? Or the near 90 points he scored at Real?

Chelsea 2006-07? Didn't win the league. We surpassed them in the PL by playing brilliant attacking football.

Inter, he never had a third season there.

Real Madrid, third season was disaster in the league and failure in CL, player revolt and when he got sacked.

Not saying it'll definitely be the same here, but it's down to him now to prove it was more to do with the type of clubs Real & Chelsea are, rather than his fault. We've seen how quickly things can turn ugly between Jose and his players. It's just something to consider when weighing up the pro's and con's of keeping him here over say, making a gamble on a younger, more attacking coach.

Don't really know who, I'll be completely honest. Pochettino? I don't know. It's hard to judge him when you have a 60 goals a season man up front. Makes life a lot easier.

 

[manunited1919]

Mou got it wrong yesterday and it was a very poor result but those calling for him to be sacked are on a different planet.

Yes, I agree.

 

[caid]

Chelsea 2006-07? Didn't win the league. We surpassed them in the PL by playing brilliant attacking football.

Inter, he never had a third season there.

Real Madrid, third season was disaster in the league and failure in CL, player revolt and when he got sacked.

Not saying it'll definitely be the same here, but it's down to him now to prove it was more to do with the type of clubs Real & Chelsea are, rather than his fault. We've seen how quickly things can turn ugly between Jose and his players. It's just something to consider when weighing up the pro's and con's of keeping him here over say, making a gamble on a younger, more attacking coach.

Don't really know who, I'll be completely honest. Pochettino? I don't know. It's hard to judge him when you have a 60 goals a season man up front. Makes life a lot easier.

I'd keep him for the summer, he buys good players

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

OK, this comes from a journalist in my country who is a die-hard Liverpool supporter and Mourinho hater but made me chuckle a bit: "He could buy the whole Persian army and he would still have them defend like the 300 Spartans".

 

[RedSky]

Those numbers really don't say an awful lot. Certainly not what you think they're saying. Van Gaal had 12 matches all season when we failed to score, Jose currently has 7 (with 8 matches to go). Hardly a discussion point. I don't judge managers by the amount of times they scored an arbitrary amount either (4 goals in a game or whatever). So if a team scores no more than 2 goals a game (never hits 4 or 5 all season) but wins the league that's a problem?

Also you do realise 6 of those 9 matches (when we scored 4) happened in August and September right? We're a long way from there now.

Let's also just forget Van Gaal stupidly went into that season with only Rooney as a recognised striker (later pulling Rashford into the mix and indecisive with Martial). Mourinho has spent money on one of the best strikers in the league, a much better midfield (on paper anyway) and has now added Sanchez who up until he joined us was regarded as one of the best players in the league. So sorry but not really seeing what's so ground-breaking about Mourinho's work at all.

Again I'll repeat it: Van Gaal didn't destroy anything, he just failed to take us forward through his own stubborness and stupidity during his reign. Mourinho has done pretty much the least we expected of him and barely anything more.

You're being biased i'm afraid. You're comparing a Manager in Van Gaal who's team in his 2nd season had the attacking prowess of a mid table PL club. To Jose in this Season who's currently already out scored Van Gaals team by 9 goals with 8 games left. Yet you say those numbers mean nothing. Ok.

Van Gaal had plenty of money to purchase whoever he wished. Don't give me that bullshit. Van Gaal lost the plot in the 2nd season, comparing it to this season is laughable.

 

[Thisistheone]

I'd keep him for the summer, he buys good players

Agree with that. He took over a lot of garbage & the squad is no doubt better now.

However, it's that hangover from last night no doubt, but you worry can he ever stop with the safety first approach at home against the likes of Sevilla, when we have Alexis, Lukaku, Rashford and Martial waiting to tear into them?

Honestly couldn't believe how we played it. We're ahead of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea but would they have sat back last night against such a team?

I could get on board with the 0-0 away result and performance just because of the belief we'd finish them off at OT in ruthless fashion.

It was truely gutting.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Mou is losing fans all the time. Every time we take one step forward, as we did against Liverpool, we then take two back with a horrid performance like the one last night.

I get the impression that most people are tolerating Mourinho rather than actively liking or supporting him. Eventually that will bubble over into outright revolt and you'll get a repeat of the final months of LVG.

 

[Z1L3]

IF we part ways with Mourinho at the end of the season then we could do a lot worse than maybe sound out Zidane,I think he would be phenomenal at Utd!

I would love to see that! He barely beat Eibar 2:1 and was outplayed for most of the game, sits 4th in Spain, and with the squad that's light years ahead of United. I would really want to read these forums with Zidane as manager.

My goodness...

 

[Web of Bissaka]

My minimum expectations of him is to perform better than the prev two, bring club back to the top level as high as he can and most importantly, kept on stacking the squad with a lot more top class quality-quality players.

After that, if he can help the club to the next higher level and adapt his approach/football to be more positive which he is capable of actually, then good, carry on.

But if not, then that's okay, the next new manager should be fine with those shining toys.

Club first.

---

Those aside, the general expectations of any United's manager is these right?, as simplest as I can put it. Anything else?

1. Good exciting attacking football. (Quality and entertainment)
2. Winning and dominating competitions (Trophies to commemorate that).
3. United's values (Class, honor, passion and Youth).

Mourinho is struggling with both 1 especially and 2, while the 3 is debatable.

If there are any of this good alternative "someone else" that can do the job better, fulfilling all 3, then I'm up for it.

 

[buckooo1978]

how does Jose not wake up this morning

feeling grumpy and ill as he rolls out of his hotel bed

kick the empty bottle of whiskey from the foot of his bed

goes to the toilet in his plush suite and has a long steamy yellow piss

looks in the mirror and says.... Why did you set the team up like that? Why?

in all seriousness, if last night doesn't effect a change in his philosophy he needs to go in the Summer. if last night doesn't change him or his attacking attitude then nothing will

 

[Ace of Spades]

OK, this comes from a journalist in my country who is a die-hard Liverpool supporter and Mourinho hater but made me chuckle a bit: "He could buy the whole Persian army and he would still have them defend like the 300 Spartans".

 

[Canagel]

Forget the FA Cup - the biggest game between now and the end of the season is City away.

Mourinho has the perfect chance to try out a different game plan, one which might actually work against good opposition.

No more bus-parking, no more hoofball, no more Fellaini. Let's go out there and actually take City on in a game of football. That doesn't mean trying to out-City them; it means devising our own gameplan that carries cohesion and attacking threat while neutralising City's strengths.

There's nothing riding on the result - we can comfortably seal CL qualification by winning the other games - so we've got the perfect chance to try something.

Mou's got two-and-a-half weeks to formulate that gameplan. Let's hope he can do it.

I completely agree with you. The FA Cup really doesn't matter to me anymore. Yes it would be nice to win it but if we won't then I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. There are 8 games left of the PL and we need to use them to prepare for next season and how we want to play. Experiment new things and actually attack for once in a big game. What better occasion than a Manchester Derby? The result isn't going to be decisive because City will win the title anyway so I hope we actually risk and take the game to them. If we lose we lose who cares but you're right no more busparking or hoofball for the rest of the season is a good start.

 

[Minimalist]

You're being biased i'm afraid. You're comparing a Manager in Van Gaal who's team in his 2nd season had the attacking prowess of a mid table PL club. To Jose in this Season who's currently already out scored Van Gaals team by 9 goals with 8 games left. Yet you say those numbers mean nothing. Ok.

Van Gaal had plenty of money to purchase whoever he wished. Don't give me that bullshit. Van Gaal lost the plot in the 2nd season, comparing it to this season is laughable.

You can’t read properly if you think I’m trying to argue that Van Gaal performed better or had a better season than Mourinho. Rather I’m saying there’s nothing remarkable about his work and LVG didn’t leave a fecking relegation candidate to him. No point continuing if you can’t see it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yo. Where's the Mkhi is a coward brigade?

Mourinho's game plan yesterday was one of the most cowardly I've seen in my life from United.

Not sure I called Mikhi a coward but he's one of the most mentally weak (and frustrating) players I've ever seen pull on a United jersey. Us stinking the place out last night doesn't change that one bit.

 

[endless_wheelies]

Blimey, one result saw a 200+ shift towards "sack him now".

Tells you everything you need to know about this forum.

 

[JPRouve]

Blimey, one result saw a 200+ shift towards "sack him now".

Tells you everything you need to know about this forum.

Yup, it tells you that a lot of people were on the fence.

 

[endless_wheelies]

Yup, it tells you that a lot of people were on the fence.

And made their decision after one result.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Blimey, one result saw a 200+ shift towards "sack him now".

Tells you everything you need to know about this forum.

Naah, some/few of the 200+ also look at the other results (early season and last season), not just the Sevilla result.

 

[Minimalist]

And made their decision after one result.

Yeah, we've been brilliant all season aside from last night. Right enough.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Forget the FA Cup - the biggest game between now and the end of the season is City away.

Mourinho has the perfect chance to try out a different game plan, one which might actually work against good opposition.

No more bus-parking, no more hoofball, no more Fellaini. Let's go out there and actually take City on in a game of football. That doesn't mean trying to out-City them; it means devising our own gameplan that carries cohesion and attacking threat while neutralising City's strengths.

There's nothing riding on the result - we can comfortably seal CL qualification by winning the other games - so we've got the perfect chance to try something.

Mou's got two-and-a-half weeks to formulate that gameplan. Let's hope he can do it.

Dream on. Start again from scratch with an entirely new approach against the runaway champions in a bitter local derby? Not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening and - as pissed off as I am about last night - I'm glad it won't.

 

[caid]

Agree with that. He took over a lot of garbage & the squad is no doubt better now.

However, it's that hangover from last night no doubt, but you worry can he ever stop with the safety first approach at home against the likes of Sevilla, when we have Alexis, Lukaku, Rashford and Martial waiting to tear into them?

Honestly couldn't believe how we played it. We're ahead of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea but would they have sat back last night against such a team?

I could get on board with the 0-0 away result and performance just because of the belief we'd finish them off at OT in ruthless fashion.

It was truely gutting.

No, he definitely 100% wont
He'll let them off the leash against mid table teams at home or relegation fodder who put 10 men behind the ball. Anyone capable of hurting us and we'll shut up shop and play percentage football.

 

[Borden]

And made their decision after one result.

Think it had more to do with the performance than the result, and it probably was the last straw for many, yes.

 

[JPRouve]

And made their decision after one result.

Or they made their decision after 19 months.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Dream on. Start again from scratch with an entirely new approach against the runaway champions in a bitter local derby? Not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening and - as pissed off as I am about last night - I'm glad it won't.

So you'd rather keep playing hoofball and parking the bus, in the hope that we might, just might, sneak a point through sheer negativity? Ok....

 

[Adebesi]

if last night doesn't change him or his attacking attitude then nothing will

It wont.

The system wasnt wrong, it was the players and the execution.

That will be his perspective on it.

Who knows, maybe there is an element of truth in that. It just depends whether we are willing to travel with him down the road towards making his dream a reality.

 

[bond19821982]

Calmed down a bit. Looking back, we have to accept that he is here to stablize us , get some good signings onboard and make us regular CL place Contenders.

Probably one more year and he might leave .

As long as top 2 is guaranteed and FA cup this year would still be an acceptable return .

 

[Minimalist]

So you'd rather keep playing hoofball and parking the bus, in the hope that we might, just might, sneak a point through sheer negativity? Ok....

Think he just means there's no point having a massive change for one match. Not that Mourinho would even consider it.