Manchester United is in a meltdown and Jose Mourinho is its epicentre. After facing two humiliating defeats in the opening three matches, the sword is hanging over the manager’s neck. Daily Mail reports that Mourinho just has one game to save his job, a defeat against Burnley could be his last game as United’s manager. Will sacking Jose Mourinho will make things better at Old Trafford?
We analyse some points which would play a huge role when the club decides his fate.
#3 Regressive style of football
Over this history of Premier League, Manchester United was used to be known as the most attacking team but Jose Mourinho has completely capsized that identity. The game against Liverpool last season was one of the worst displays the fans have ever witnessed from their team. Using attacking wingers like Rashford and Martial as the full backs have outraged the supporters.
Mourinho has failed to establish the fear in the opponents with his dull tactics and set-up. There seem to be no partnerships and rhythm in the final third of the pitch. Former United manager, Louis van Gaal faced the fury of the fans for his slow tempo football which largely includes backpasses to the goalkeeper. Mourinho replaced that mentality to pass side-ways with no real intent to surge forward. This boring style of football has drawn the flak from the fans and the pundits all over the world.
#2 Spent a fortune and yet failed to get desired results
Around £300 million has been sanctioned by Manchester United since the arrival of the Portuguese. Pogba, Lindelof, Lukaku and Bailly have come to Old Trafford for hefty fees and none of them has stood up to their price tags.
Bailly and Lindelof had a shocker against Brighton whereas Lukaku was able to score only 16 goals in the Premier League last season, nine less than he scored for Everton before making his big-money move. Paul Pogba, at this time, should be the leader on the pitch for United but has even failed to nail down a permanent spot in the starting XI.
Mourinho may lament over the lack of support in this transfer window but he certainly needs to explain the dearth of improvement in the signings he made in his two-year stay at Old Trafford.
#1 Lack of options
This is the only factor which should compel Ed Woodward to persist with Jose Mourinho. All the high-grade managers who were without a club in the summer has found a new home. Carlo Ancelotti has taken over the charge at Napoli, Unai Emery is now with Arsenal whereas Thomas Tuchel is now the part of PSG’s ambitious project.
The only manager available who have the experience to manage a top European club is Zinedine Zidane. Bringing him to manage United can be a great idea as his attacking style of play will be adored by the fans. The only shortcoming is that he took Real Madrid to glories in the presence of a squad a manager could dream of. At Manchester United, he won’t get to work with the players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos.
Except for Zidane, only Michael Carrick can be a real option but this job could be too soon to come for him as he hung up his boots only a few months earlier.
