Confirmed and Official - Welcome to Old Trafford José Mourinho

When precisely, one can not make the distinction between comments that are actually genuine, well thought out and serious, with others born out sheer pettiness or come from an ugly place of pure vindictiveness, that's when you know for the most part, they can no longer be trusted and lose some of their credibility in the process.
That's pretty much why it's hard for me to put any credence or merit into anything he has to say re United nowadays. We've all seen and heard how he would go out of his way to just spew venom at United, for no other reason that he's got an ax to grind since he was forced out...

 

@JC7rox you are right in identifying Scholes but I think it's clear at this point that he had a pro Giggs agenda. His constant criticism has toned down significantly this year now that the Giggs thing is no longer an issue.

But even then, I'm perfectly fine with ex players criticizing the club. But I don't think Keane's criticism is coming from a place of trying to see the club do things better. I genuinely think he dislikes United and will do as long as SAF is anywhere near or around the club. There are many criticisms that could be leveled against United at any given time - our finishing, our odd squad rotation or lack of, etc. But Keane just feels like a heckler with a platform these days.

 

José Mourinho called me a 'coward' in Real Madrid row, reveals Mesut Özil

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...t-ozil?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

 

He's right hahah

 

He got everything out of Ozil. It was brilliant management.

 

José Mourinho is turning Manchester United into specialists in draws

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-draws?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

 

Should the thread be re-named as Judas is still No1 - José Mourinho Thread ?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...nho-pundits-paul-pogba-manchester-united-envy

 

Say what you want about Jose, but he's done a fine job since being appointed. Despite our position in the league, I'd rate him as a 7 out of 10 for the year so far.

Positives:

- Dropped Rooney. It can't be emphasized enough how big this is. His lacking technical ability and tactical inflexibility has been screwing is over for years. Jose dropping him has fixed this (although he could've done it sooner).

- Identifying and being able to lure top talent. No top player wanted anything to do with us under Moyes and LvG. Jose still has an aura about him that draws in top talent. He came in, identified 3 top players and one potential star, and wrapped up all the deals fairly early in the summer. If you look at the talent we brought, the only one we overpaid for was Pogba (some credit goes to Woody here as well).

- Motivation. Since Fergie left, the players haven't had a belief in the team and it's been all too clear. The players could see Moyes was in over his head and they didn't trust LvG and his hands-off, keep possession nonsense. Jose has the belief in the team back and when he sees a player needs motivating, he does it. The mentally strong players respond, the weak don't. Simple enough.

- Finally playing attacking football again. I know our goals for says otherwise but that's more down to poor finishing than our playing style. This team passes the eye test much more than Moyes or LvG's United.

Negatives:

- Still can be a whiny little bitch. Always has, always will.

- Failure to rotate. He needs to give more games to young players and stop favoring others so much that he runs them into the ground.

- Stop experimenting with Pogba. This kid is the focal point of the team going forward. Build it around him in a way that lets him excel. If he fails, then it's on him. But don't let an investment like him fail because we played him in a sub-optimal position.

 

Blames poor finishing over playing style then complains about our record signing in a sub-optimal position.

 

Jose was on the BBC Football show tonight. Haven't seen it yet, but he does mention that he'd have never sold Di Maria, Chicharito, or Welbeck if he was in charge earlier.

 

United are not ready to dominate the Preniership. - Mourinho

www.bbc.com/sport/football/39291303

No surprise there. Guessing that's him downplaying expectations at this point and at the same time, giving Woodward and the board a stark reminder that some big pieces will still be needed in the summertime, I suppose

 

who would you bring in so we can challenge for the league?

 

Knowing the type of player he favors, I definitely buy it 100% as far as ADM and Welbeck (who would have been a great squad guy for us this year). Even Chicharito, I guess I can see that he would have loved to have him as backup upfront as well, as a different option up top.

 

I think @Ashur has me on ignore...

 

Team is deflating a bit recently but otherwise not too many complaints except playing Zlatan in every match. Therefore it is fair to rate and slate Mourinho based on Zlatan's finishing.

In the end, this is unacceptable but is also fully a Jose decision
https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_missed

 

Never misses a chance to have a pop. He does have a point though - this fixture congestion is something Jose better *hopefully* get used to at this club. It's clear Jose is trying to create a bunker mentality but after repeating that a thousand times, it will lose its effect. Also, it's quite clear he isn't rotating enough. Stop complaining about fixtures, and use some line like Schwein or Tuanzebe or TFM last night, it in league games.

It is funny to see Keane criticizing managerial tactics though, given his own massive success in that field.

 

As previously mentioned, it just gets old at this point and the predictability of his words make them less impactful each passing time. He may have a point or speak some truth, but the overriding question is always whether he's pushing some type of agenda spawned by personal feelings. And fair or not, it has impacted his credibility among some: I know it's hard for me to take completely seriously or at the very least, my first thoughts are on his own motives for his comments.
As far as Jose himself is concerned, he definitely finds himself in an interesting situation at the moment and it will be very interesting to see how he negotiates things in the coming weeks. His comment yesterday that the team has "enemies" everywhere, or that the team probably will lose Sunday because of the injuries, the crammed fixture list, etc are typical Jose and certainly designed to have the guys close ranks and light a fire in them.
Mentioned previously that he was going to have to be creative in this stretch of game and it looks like he won't have a choice now. Very curious to see what he does with the midfield particularly. The frustrating part is that he really could have spared himself a few headaches if he had made just basic use of some completely forgotten guys, like Schweini or Timmy (or taken a shot at Blind in midfield in Carrick's role).

 

Fixture congestion was predictable and Mourinho went into the season with a reduced squad, did not integrate youth and refused to rotate. He can have no complaints. Keane is correct.

 

Guess he had another interview today or yesterday where he said that the EPL doesn't give a shit about teams in Europe, asking why we play on a Sunday noon after a Thursday game instead of later on Sunday or Monday. Also asking for Friday night games the weekend before UEFA ties.

He's been saying this for years. Portugal and Italy do it, blah blah. You take the money, you have to take the rules.

 

Jose on how Prem clubs get no help from the FA...

www.bbc.com/sport/football/39301241