Lakshay Khurana
The announcement of Sir Alex’s retirement raised the question of “What now?” among the players and the fans. Everyone knew it would be very tough to replace the Scottish legend. And it wasn’t something that’d happen overnight. Ferguson had this sense and talent to win leagues and cups without having his team filled with star players, unlike his rivals.
After Sir Alex retired, David Moyes was appointed as the Scottish man’s successor. Moyes got the love and support of fans with a trending Reds slogan, “In Moyes, We Trust”. But unfortunately for the club and the fans, that season was a total failure. The Reds finished the league at 7th position, which was a huge downfall for a club of that stature. The Board of Directors didn’t take long to sack the former Everton manager.
Van Gaal was confirmed to replace David Moyes as the new manager for Manchester United on 19 May 2014. He signed a three-year contract coming into effect after the 2014 World Cup. The Dutchman had impressed everyone around the club and there was a real positive energy and buzz around the place. The fans were delighted that a manager with so much experience was put in charge. Van Gaal signed many hyped players spending more than £130 million. The 2014/15 season was an improvement but still not on par with Manchester United’s standard even after spending such a huge amount of money on buying players which is very unlikely for this club. United was the club which made players not buy them.
The Board of Directors were somehow still pleased with United’s performance and did not choose to sack Van Gaal, giving him time to set his philosophy working on the new team. Van Gaal was slow in luring players over at the club for the next season and on top of it, United were on an injury streak rather than a winning streak. The 2015/16 has been a hit for United, who had been performing very well at the beginning of the season but suddenly took a fall after many first team players started getting injured more often and moreover, at around the same period. The Dutch boss is still struggling to play the team his way successfully.
Recently, there have been rumours that the club will get Mourinho to be the man to replace van Gaal, who is currently not managing any team after being sacked by Chelsea FC for the second time.
Many fans are happy over this news and will be pleased to see “The Special One” working his magic at Manchester United.
Here are 5 changes Mourinho will do if appointed as United’s manager:
- Sign a striker
Mourinho is known for winning. No matter where he has been managing clubs, he surely succeeded well enough by winning major trophies everywhere. Jose Mourinho will be quick to understand and realize that United needs more experience in the frontline which has been a total failure this season.
- Take the best out of Rooney.
The Portuguese coach has never kept a secret of signing the English striker. He tried to sign him back in 2010 to Real Madrid and also almost signed him when he returned to Chelsea before Rooney signed his extended contract at Manchester United.
With so much earlier interest and respect for Wayne Rooney, Mourinho will cherish the moments working with Rooney at last, and will provide him with a more important and dynamic role on the pitch.
The Captain may be revived to his old form under Mourinho.
- Game Style
Mourinho has a lot of experience in the English Premier League and has also achieved a lot while his time at Chelsea. He will switch the game style of the team from Van Gaal’s possession philosophy to counter attacks.
Back when Sir Alex faced Mourinho, the fixture was highly significant and entertaining as Mourinho always gave the Scottish legend a hard time with his own tactics which earned him great respect by many.
- Will make pragmatic changes.
The way he commands is charismatic. No matter you’re as good a player as Kaka or Mata, if you don’t fit in his style, you’re done. The same thing is widely criticized too but it does have a positive effect on the final eleven that plays, making them feel they earned their place. Mourinho is good at reading tactics and therefore, makes changes to squad accordingly. He knows both strengths and weaknesses of his team.
- Infusing confidence into players
The most important thing which the Reds need is confidence, which they are unable to attain. Mourinho’s managing skills are very intimidating. He can manage and deal with media, can manage under pressure and keep media on himself instead of the players.
He molds his teams according to the demands unlike many other managers.
