I don't know what to make of José's current plight. I assumed our failure last season was down to one key mistake regarding pre-season, which was then exacerbated by a misjudgement in how to man-manage his staff through the remainder of his time at the club, rather than down to any tactical failing. This season he just seems to be going through the motions, without any of the deviousness, inherent understanding of the game, and pre-emptive action I had come to associate with José's management.

I really can't say with any certainty what caused it. Maybe it was his first taste of hard-hitting failure he experienced last season, maybe it's some personal issue the general public wouldn't know about (as much as the unimaginative and the unfunny - looking at David Squires here - might like to speculate), but he certainly seems to have lost his zest for the sport. Assuming he doesn't turn it around at Man Utd (and I still have faith that he can), I would like him to take a Guardiola-style sabbatical from the game:

"I left Barcelona because I was worn out. [...] I was on my knees and had no new tactical ideas left. That was why I left. There was no other reason.”

Guardiola spent the year travelling, learning from other great footballing minds, rejuvenating himself and gaining a new understanding and new ideas for the game. I would very much like for José to do the same. Despite the reprehensible Schadenfreude we have seen on the forum lately for José's failings at Man Utd (and I mean for José rather than for Man Utd), for me it is genuinely sad to see a man who spent a decade as or among the very best at what he does, and who was such an integral part of making us the irresistible force we have been for the past decade, perform so poorly and appear so dejected. Regardless of how this season pans out, and even with a year away from the game, José's stock would still be far too high to ruin his reputation in the game forever. If all goes badly at Man Utd, I hope he does take that time to himself, because I want him back, and I want him back at his best.

7 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

He will get time and rightly so IMO.

United can't just can every manager every season when it's not going to plan like we have done...it simply doesn't work. Who would they bring in? It's pointless to bin him after a poor season (if it does end that way). Give him another few windows with the blank cheque book and he will revamp the side to his liking....United wont hold back in the spending unlike our board did after the title win so he has a good chance of getting his 1st choice players.

I don't think he trusts many of the players he has inherited and I'd imagine some of them don't take to Jose either especially the ones he is slating in the press.

Man United need to stick with him and let him build a side he in his image.

 

But when Jose builds side's in his image they get worse, like with us. Jose's best years came at Chelsea and Inter were he inherited a decent side and made the minor tweaks needed to make it great, can he even be trusted to rebuild a team?

Has he ever been allowed to do it ?

21 minutes ago, Stim said:

Has he ever been allowed to do it ?

Utd seem to be allowing him. And that's going well!!

Bringing in Ferreira, Carvalho, Ballack, Essien, A. Cole and Drogba wasn't too bad :P ... and then Matic, Costa and Fabregas this time around. Although it is hard to know how much input he has had with which players and so on.

In theory it looked like Man Utd had the perfect window. Strengthened in all the areas. Just isn't working out for them.

I feel like ever since Inter he hasn't been himself. He was obviously great with us, great with Inter in that Champions League run after getting rejected by Barcelona. Then went to Real to stick the middle finger to Barca again, but it didn't work out and he just seemed to get burned out throughout that process. Even when he came back to Chelsea he was never the same I feel. I have always been a massive Mourinho fan, but the point where I could no longer support him wholeheartedly was when he would make excuses about the referee or something else, which clearly was not the problem. He just seems bitter these days...

I wish he left us for some other team outside England, then I would of been able to support him in gaining back is mojo. Unfortunately now I am looking forward to Man Utd falling further and further. Hopefully he will eventually leave, take a break, and re-start his career elsewhere.

Edited November 4, 20169 yr by Saru

28 minutes ago, Nibs said:

Utd seem to be allowing him. And that's going well!!

To be fair he is finding out quickly that united have been spending on a bucket load of average players.

3 hours ago, Stim said:

To be fair he is finding out quickly that united have been spending on a bucket load of average players.

 

Strange that their squad suddenly became average as soon as Fergie left, despite the fact he led them to the title in his last season.

 

Utd's squad currently is far stronger than it was then. They have the most expensive squad in the history of football. That's not to say they've spent all the money wisely but at the start of the season they were everybody's favourites along with City.

 

They have very many players that every other club would take, and if they're not doing themselves justice, well that all points to the manager I'm afraid.

5 hours ago, Saru said:

l wish he left us for some other team outside England, then I would of been able to support him in gaining back is mojo. Unfortunately now I am looking forward to Man Utd falling further and further. Hopefully he will eventually leave, take a break, and re-start his career elsewhere.

Goes without saying, I want Utd to mess up, if he moves on I wish him well, if he stays he is United's manager he will get no support from me, he is a rival now not our manager.

Too early to tell whether he will succeed at Manchester United, but the signs are not good for him so far. I'm still astounded by his decline in the last 18 months and initially wrote off his sacking as being due to incompetence from the whole club (board, manager, players) and slacking off after winning the title in 2015, but now I've started to believe deeper problems exist with him.

It was well-known that his father was suffering from ill health when he was managing us, so maybe he was somewhat distracted and not fully happy or enthusiastic the way he was with us the first time. Also, he's now dealing with the fact that he's living alone in Manchester with his family back in London and it's well-documented that Jose regards himself as a staunch family man outside football so that could be affecting him to an extent.

Manchester United have problems in their own right that go beyond Jose. Ferguson was a one of a kind for them as manager, but the squad he left when he retired was in a dire need of a rebuild, which made it naturally difficult for his successors to rebuild and to also live up to the very high expectations that encompass being a manager of Manchester United at the same time. Manchester United have cash to burn so financially there's no issues, but the worry for them is the inability to transition out of the Ferguson era.

After all, the whole club structure was centered around Ferguson and with him no longer leading the club the club has struggled to transition away from him.

On Mourinho, I was disappointed to see him take the job at Manchester United as a rival club supporter, but understandably it wasn't a surprise due to his ambitions and soft spot for the club. However, I think taking a sabbatical as others have alluded to isn't the worst option for him as he hasn't had a proper break from the game in nearly 20 years. He looks very burnt out and in desperate need of a break to recharge the batteries.

One thing I'm forever grateful for is that he managed Chelsea at a time when he was peaking as manager. It's a pity that he didn't stay on until the end of the 2009-2010 season when his contract at the time would have expired and most of our playing squad would have started ageing and declining to an extent as we saw from the beginning of the 2010-2011 under Ancelotti.

After that particular season, I would have understood him moving on and I doubt the pining for him would have been as prevalent after he left the first time had he fulfilled his full contract because many Chelsea supporters including myself rightfully or wrongfully felt that their was unfinished business with him (in other words, he left too early) and this was further reaffirmed with his brilliance at Inter Milan.

I think he will be a good manager in the future beyond his days at Manchester United, but the days of him taking football by storm in 2004-2010 are long gone now and I can't see him returning to those levels as younger, talented and enthusiastic managers emerge along the way.

Big few games coming up for Jose. Swansea away today followed by Arsenal at home. 

If he loses both of those or fails to get a win, the pressure will really be on him and it will depend on how he handles that pressure. He has been lashing out at the players already so he needs to be careful. 

Jose keeps his job for another week, however I fear his underlying mental instability will rear its ugly head before long.

another mourinho public shaming special, he just cant help it when things not going well, but this time it's after a solid win! and it's for luke shaw for not wanting to play through a knock

the kid just got back from a freak injury, i think it's fair if he felt some pain and he's not mentally strong enough to play through it yet, after such a traumatic injury a very short time ago

reading redcafe the majority of united fans love this "tough love" and "jose showing who's boss" and stuff, oh they're in for a treat..

56 minutes ago, havelschayes said:

another mourinho public shaming special, he just cant help it when things not going well, but this time it's after a solid win! and it's for luke shaw for not wanting to play through a knock

the kid just got back from a freak injury, i think it's fair if he felt some pain and he's not mentally strong enough to play through it yet, after such a traumatic injury a very short time ago

reading redcafe the majority of united fans love this "tough love" and "jose showing who's boss" and stuff, oh they're in for a treat..

 

Second time he's had a dig at Shaw this season. Shaw is a top prospect, I rate him really highly, and he's a Chelsea fanatic to boot. Scholes said the other day he will probably be the best LB in the world, but let's not hold that against him.

 

It's simple, Shaw is an attack-minded LB, and he's young and pretty inexperienced. Jose probably wants somebody older and more defensive. We should go after Shaw, he'd make an amazing WB.

 

It was a no-brainer before but sadly Jose didn't want him so he went to Man Utd. Jose said money was the reason but I never believed him, he just preferred a left-footed Azpilicueta to sit behind Hazard and stay there.

 

There's no doubt in my mind Shaw would have preferred us and I've no doubt he'd jump at the chance to join. Homegrown as well let's not forget.

 

Jose can make mistakes when it comes to letting players go and, crucially, he's not afraid to sell to his rivals and back his judgement. We would be mad not to pursue this one.

1 hour ago, Davey Baby said:

 

Second time he's had a dig at Shaw this season. Shaw is a top prospect, I rate him really highly, and he's a Chelsea fanatic to boot. Scholes said the other day he will probably be the best LB in the world, but let's not hold that against him.

 

It's simple, Shaw is an attack-minded LB, and he's young and pretty inexperienced. Jose probably wants somebody older and more defensive. We should go after Shaw, he'd make an amazing WB.

 

It was a no-brainer before but sadly Jose didn't want him so he went to Man Utd. Jose said money was the reason but I never believed him, he just preferred a left-footed Azpilicueta to sit behind Hazard and stay there.

 

There's no doubt in my mind Shaw would have preferred us and I've no doubt he'd jump at the chance to join. Homegrown as well let's not forget.

 

Jose can make mistakes when it comes to letting players go and, crucially, he's not afraid to sell to his rivals and back his judgement. We would be mad not to pursue this one.

I completely agree with the logic but in reality, fat chance

Not just Shaw, but he also chose to give Smalling a public flogging today ... Can't help himself, even after a win ... Idiot ....

would be happy if our january transfer agenda is to help mourinho and take all off these "deadweight" players off his hand in luke & mkhitaryan

probably jose's biggest troll job ever in mkhitaryan, absolutely class player bought him for a lot of money and didn't even give him chance to prove himself, 

11 hours ago, Davey Baby said:

 

Second time he's had a dig at Shaw this season. Shaw is a top prospect, I rate him really highly, and he's a Chelsea fanatic to boot. Scholes said the other day he will probably be the best LB in the world, but let's not hold that against him.

 

It's simple, Shaw is an attack-minded LB, and he's young and pretty inexperienced. Jose probably wants somebody older and more defensive. We should go after Shaw, he'd make an amazing WB.

 

It was a no-brainer before but sadly Jose didn't want him so he went to Man Utd. Jose said money was the reason but I never believed him, he just preferred a left-footed Azpilicueta to sit behind Hazard and stay there.

 

There's no doubt in my mind Shaw would have preferred us and I've no doubt he'd jump at the chance to join. Homegrown as well let's not forget.

 

Jose can make mistakes when it comes to letting players go and, crucially, he's not afraid to sell to his rivals and back his judgement. We would be mad not to pursue this one.

Problem is without his pace he is below average and he's been struggling in that regard recently. 

Looks like he's losing it already at United. Always a really, really bad sign with Mourinho when he starts throwing his own players under the bus.
We should keep an eye on the likes of Martial, Shaw and Henrikh as i wouldn't be surprised if they are all gone before Mourinhos time at Old Trafford is over.

I'd have Shaw here if he wanted a transfer in January.

Starting to realise now why almost everyone hated him when he was at Chelsea...

Because we beat everyone.

1 hour ago, Stim said:

Because we beat everyone.

Yep, rivals used to hate Mourinho because he was so successful. Now they just still hate him anyway!!

 

 

I also think its because he is ok with winning ugly, which in effect makes it only enjoyable to that teams fans. We loved it when we put on defensive masterclasses against Barcelona but watching your team hit a wall and then lose 1 - 0 isn't that fun. With other managers you can usually enjoy their success as an outsider.

And then he opens his mouth.

14 hours ago, Remodez said:

Problem is without his pace he is below average and he's been struggling in that regard recently. 

 

Firstly, he's far more than just pace, secondly, look at this clip of Utd's recent game against Burnley, where Pogba makes a mistake and Andre Gray (one of the fastest players in the league) is through.

 

I was watching it at the time and I thought there's no way Shaw is going to catch him ..