POLL: Would you take Jose Mourinho (if he accepted the job)

Would you take Jose Mourinho as manager if opportunity arose in future?

  • Total voters
    547
Kag said:
Are we still pretending that Mourinho sides don't score lots of goals and produce entertaining football? The myth will never die, it seems.

Mourinho is a pragmatist, and does what he must to win titles. If that means all hands to the deck against the bigger sides then so be it. It's a tactic that works, is proven, and is actually rather brave. People can't wait to tear into him for his defensive tendencies in the bigger matches but he persists with it regardless.

If young players are good enough he will play them.
Click to expand...
Agreed, it's strange that people could have watched his Madrid team and Chelsea this season and think Mourinho sides never play good football.
 
ForlansHair said:
I didn't say it had to be at the expense of winning. He should be able to marry the two together.

If he can't then he should at least attempt to. His team selections in the Carling Cup and the dead rubber in the CL groups prove it. He doesn't even attempt to play them.
Click to expand...

Different standards at different clubs. We have a higher tolerance for failure than the clubs that hire Mourinho. If he goes a season without a title, he may be gone and who is to say otherwise under Abramovich.
 
What is this obsession with force fielding youngsters, even at the expense of overall quality ? If they're good enough they'll play. Look at Kurt Zouma as an example, he is fast becoming a permanent fixture in Chelsea's first XI.
 
Invictus said:
What is this obsession with force fielding youngsters, even at the expense of overall quality ? If they're good enough they'll play. Look at Kurt Zouma as an example, he is fast becoming a permanent fixture in Chelsea's first XI.
Click to expand...

Its the United way.
 
I certainly would have taken him in 2013 and I still think we should have gotten him then, I reckon he was genuinely willing to go to United. Now I don't see him ever being at United, so I wouldn't really waste much time thinking about it.
 
Varun said:
Its the United way.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. But in the grander scheme of things, it only works if these players have the requisite qualities to succeed. Playing them just for the sake of reinforcing some remote moralistic notions serves no purpose from a broader perspective.
 
I have always said Jose should never be United manager but after seeing two managers fail to take us anywhere while he has transformed Chelsea completely, I've changed my mind.
 
Kag said:
Are we still pretending that Mourinho sides don't score lots of goals and produce entertaining football? The myth will never die, it seems.

Mourinho is a pragmatist, and does what he must to win titles. If that means all hands to the deck against the bigger sides then so be it. It's a tactic that works, is proven, and is actually rather brave. People can't wait to tear into him for his defensive tendencies in the bigger matches but he persists with it regardless.

If young players are good enough he will play them.
Click to expand...

Against the bigger sides? He's managed the biggest clubs in Portugal and Spain, the most dominant team in Italy at the time he was there and by far the richest club in the league the first time he was here. He doesn't even attempt to play great football, as you said, he is a pragmatist.

I want a manager who will go toe to toe with the biggest club sides in the world, not out of fear of losing. Imagine some of the greatest games in our history, Barcelona 3-3 United, United 4-3 Madrid, Arsenal 2-4 United. They would never happen with Mourinho. We'd be served up what he served up against PSG the other night, utter turd on a stick.

Invictus said:
What is this obsession with force fielding youngsters, even at the expense of overall quality ? If they're good enough they'll play. Look at Kurt Zouma as an example, he is fast becoming a permanent fixture in Chelsea's first XI.
Click to expand...

Zouma? The guy Mourinho doesn't trust to play in an away game?
 
Mourinho would make the decisions we all expected LVG to make and ship out the "star name" players who don't fit. You'd see none of this RVP/Falcao partnership with Rooney at CM etc. Mata won player of the year twice in a row at Chelsea and was shipped out. Luiz was supposedly a future captain and he was as well. If you gave Mourinho control over transfers and our budget we'd have an incredibly balanced side challenging for everything. Although we would play fairly dire football at times but we already have that with LVG and Moyes before him.
 
Maybe we can still get him. He's on course to win his 3rd league title at Chelsea, perhaps we can offer him a lucrative challenge, to restore United back to the top or something like that.
 
ForlansHair said:
Against the bigger sides? He's managed the biggest clubs in Portugal and Spain, the most dominant team in Italy at the time he was there and by far the richest club in the league the first time he was here. He doesn't even attempt to play great football, as you said, he is a pragmatist.

I want a manager who will go toe to toe with the biggest club sides in the world, not out of fear of losing. Imagine some of the greatest games in our history, Barcelona 3-3 United, United 4-3 Madrid, Arsenal 2-4 United. They would never happen with Mourinho. We'd be served up what he served up against PSG the other night, utter turd on a stick.
Click to expand...

I don't think he fears losing, he just knows how not to. His teams do play entertaining football. His initial Chelsea side did, his Madrid side did and his current Chelsea side can. He is certainly a pragmatist, but better that than an idealist. Idealists are more prone to falling flat on their arses.
 
ForlansHair said:
Zouma? The guy Mourinho doesn't trust to play in an away game?
Click to expand...

No. The guy who Mourinho trusts to start vs Liverpool, City (their primary titular rival) and Everton.
 
Ship has sailed, only chance we have to get him is to rename the club Mourinho United. Even then, I am not sure...
 
ForlansHair said:
Against the bigger sides? He's managed the biggest clubs in Portugal and Spain, the most dominant team in Italy at the time he was there and by far the richest club in the league the first time he was here. He doesn't even attempt to play great football, as you said, he is a pragmatist.

I want a manager who will go toe to toe with the biggest club sides in the world, not out of fear of losing. Imagine some of the greatest games in our history, Barcelona 3-3 United, United 4-3 Madrid, Arsenal 2-4 United. They would never happen with Mourinho. We'd be served up what he served up against PSG the other night, utter turd on a stick.



Zouma? The guy Mourinho doesn't trust to play in an away game?
Click to expand...

The two CL finals we played against Barcelona were shocking, what happened to our free flowing attacking football in those matches? Ferguson tried to do the same thing Mourinho does which is to try and stop the opposition. Maybe with Mourinho's approach we would have 4/5 CL titles now.
 
We should have offered him the job on a silver platter on the day Fergie announced his retirement, regardless of the dissenting voice in the boardroom. We missed the boat with Mourhinho.
 
ForlansHair said:
All of which were played at Stamford Bridge, as was my initial point.
Click to expand...

There was no logical initial point to the argument you provided. Playing him at Stamford Bridge doesn't take away from the faith Jose has evidenced wrt Zouma's performances. There's something to be said about progressing young players at a rate so they're not overwhelmed and Jose is keeping in line with the pre-tested Varane progression where he was slowly assimilated into first team duties. How many other 20 year old center-backs are starting in some of the biggest matches for an elite club in Europe ? But no, he's not trusted enough and Jose doesn't endorse youth because that's what the narrative says.
 
I am 100% his biggest wish was to join us - but SAF didn't dare to put someone in who could actually do a better job than him. He also wanted to be the maker of the next manager by blessing the rat Moyes. I was rather pleased with LVG, and I believe he's one of the biggest ones out there - so I haven't given up on him just yet. Back to Mourinho; I believe some of his love to football died when he had to go back to Chelsea again instead of joining us. He had no options and probably felt that there were no more challanges. Just look at him, he's not even engaged in the game anymore. He wish he was with us.
 
Raoul said:
I disagree. First there's no golden rule that we absolutely have to play youngsters at the expense of winning. Its that type of stubbornness that could lead us down a bindipper path of decades of mediocrity.
Click to expand...
Some people here needs a reality check and realize than we are in 2015. Those who don't want Mourinho as a United manager deserves the mediocricity we have been for this and the previous season.
 
Kag said:
I don't think he fears losing, he just knows how not to. His teams do play entertaining football. His initial Chelsea side did, his Madrid side did and his current Chelsea side can. He is certainly a pragmatist, but better that than an idealist. Idealists are more prone to falling flat on their arses.
Click to expand...

I guess we are both looking for different qualities in our managers. It seems most people are happy with just winning at all costs. I believe United is more than that and he doesn't fit our culture or values. I'm sure you know Bubsy's now famous quote about perfection.

He is a great manager in his own right, he's just not the type we should be looking to hire.
 
ForlansHair said:
I guess we are both looking for different qualities in our managers. It seems most people are happy with just winning at all costs. I believe United is more than that and he doesn't fit our culture or values. I'm sure you know Bubsy's now famous quote about perfection.

He is a great manager in his own right, he's just not the type we should be looking to hire.
Click to expand...
err we're still a football team, yeah?
 
ForlansHair said:
Winning is important, of course, but I also watch United to be entertained. United should be about more than just winning, as I have tried to explain in this thread.
Click to expand...
You remember the 1-0 scrappy wins we had with SAF yeah? I'm talking about the 1-0s in a row a few years ago when we won the league but were proud of the way we did it?!
 
Member 5225 said:
You remember the 1-0 scrappy wins we had with SAF yeah? I'm talking about the 1-0s in a row a few years ago when we won the league but were proud of the way we did it?!
Click to expand...

The 07/08 season where we had a Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney front 3? Extremely odd example to use. That was a fantastic team - full of young players and a vast amount of youth team products. That was the epitome of a proper United side.
 
ForlansHair said:
The 07/08 season where we had a Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney front 3? Extremely odd example to use. That was a fantastic team - full of young players and a vast amount of youth team products. That was the epitome of a proper United side.
Click to expand...
Agreed that was the best period. I meant the title after that (think after Ronaldo) where clean sheets and close compact scrappy 1-0s were what we did for months on end.
 
For those rebuking him for his lack of class; if he was wearing the Utd badge instead of a Chelsea one, I'm sure you'd be lapping it up. That chance has certainly gone now though, and despite his previous pattern of management, I believe he is at Chelsea for the long-haul.
 
My first choice after SAF retired .Wouldn't take him so long to instill his philosophy.
 
kouroux said:
One who has a clear idea of how he wants his team to play and who is always getting the best out of the squad at his disposal.
Click to expand...

Oh how I want a manager who can do that. Sadly I thought we had one.
 
Member 5225 said:
Agreed that was the best period. I meant the title after that (think after Ronaldo) where clean sheets and close compact scrappy 1-0s were what we did for months on end.
Click to expand...

Which season?

In the two titles we've won post Ronaldo - The 2010/11 season we were the highest scorers and won 1-0 3 times. The 2012/13 season we were also the highest scorers and won 1-0 4 times. 7 out 76 games doesn't seem an awful lot to me.

Mourinho has never been the out and out top scorer in any of his seasons in England - but we're going off on a bit of a tangent here. It merely comes down to whether you are happy to employ a manager who will win at any cost, or take the risk and employ one who wants to win but is determined to try and do it with style. I'd rather risk the second option.
 
Let me make you all depressed for a second but just imagine this, if we had got Mourinho imediately after SAF retired then we could have Costa up front now, with fabregas in midfield with the whole midfield anchored by matic we would have one of the best young CB's around coming through in Zouma. Plus if mourinho got his hands on 200 million then he would bring in quality, I'd love to see what he could bring in with that amount.

All the deadwood would've been binned off months ago, RVP would've been sold probably for the price we paid for him all the usual suspects would've been sold off too. We would never have signed falcao.

If we did get him in Make no mistake We would be challenging for the title this year.
 
ForlansHair said:
Which season?

In the two titles we've won post Ronaldo - The 2010/11 season we were the highest scorers and won 1-0 3 times. The 2012/13 season we were also the highest scorers and won 1-0 4 times. 7 out 76 games doesn't seem an awful lot to me.

Mourinho has never been the out and out top scorer in any of his seasons in England - but we're going off on a bit of a tangent here. It merely comes down to whether you are happy to employ a manager who will win at any cost, or take the risk and employ one who wants to win but is determined to try and do it with style. I'd rather risk the second option.
Click to expand...
Understood, I believe the reality of the situation in having amazing swashbuckling attacking football playing every team off the park (ala 90s football) and winning consistently just don't go hand in hand anymore, unfortunately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.