Jose Mourinho, is, of course, one of the best managers in the world. His record speaks for itself and it would be hard to argue with the assertion that he has proved himself time and time again. However, he is yet to really achieve lift off with Manchester United, especially when compared to Pep Guardiola at their cross town rivals.

He might have taken home two major trophies last season and is currently pushing United on to become the main title challenges to Man City, however there are some thick clouds over Old Trafford, with Sunday night’s defeat to Newcastle really ramming home these issues. Mourinho, for all his nous, for all his ability and for all his experience, still seems unsure how to organise his side properly and how to get the best out of one of the most talented squads in English, if not European, football.

One of the biggest issues seems to be that, despite having a conveyor belt of talent from Paul Pogba to Alexis Sanchez, from Anthony Martial to Marcus Rashford and from Romelu Lukaku to Nemanja Matic, he doesn’t know his best team, his best formation or even his best tactics. It is possible to win games through individual brilliance, as United have many times, but when they come up against well organised and resolute sides, if that moment of magic doesn’t come, then they fail. We saw that against Newcastle and Huddersfield in particular.

While only a fool would bet against Mourinho eventually turning it round, it is hard to see him doing it soon enough to make this season anything more than another transitional one. If you think you have a good idea of how the Mourinho era will go then, for the most varied stockpile of free bet offers – click here, if you want to make a bet on Mourinho to turn things round or to continue to fail, then these offers will let you do it without spending a penny of your own money. With focus seemingly off winning the Premier League, it might be an idea to have a flutter on Man Utd taking home the FA Cup, which Mourinho will surely want to lift for only the second time in his career.

He seems to be having real issues with Paul Pogba, United’s record signing and at one point, the world’s most expensive player. He has struggled recently and Jose seems unsure how to play him and whether to deploy him in a two or a three man midfield. His problems are further compounded by the fact that Sanchez’s arrival in Manchester, has meant Martial has switched wings and looks far less effective. There are a lot of questions about how United should play and Mourinho currently seems like he doesn’t have a sufficient answer.

He is also hamstrung by his very average defence who have really struggled in tighter games, they have desperately missed Eric Bailly. Jose Mourinho though does have to take some of the blame for buying Victor Lindelof and failing to properly integrate him in the side. United are clearly a good side but they need more and better guidance, Mourinho should be the man to provide that, but he needs to find tough answers to the hard questions soon.

Posted on February 16th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article