David Sangma
Manchester United recently fired Louis Van Gaal after just two days of winning the FA Cup. While many pundits, fans and ex players have criticized the Dutchman over his tenure the biggest failure can be probably summed up in the following 5 points.
Now Jose Mourinho is heavily tipped to succeed Van Gaal and lets have a look at how the Portuguese may succeed where Van Gaal has failed. While he has not yet been signed there are some pretty strong reasons to sign the “special one”.
Strategic game
In the last two seasons we have seen Louis Van Gaal deploy the same tactics over and over against every opponents they faced. Irrespective of whether it is the top most clubs or the relegation battling clubs, the Dutchman approached the same method of ball possession. That (stubborn tactic of the manager) is one of the reasons why Arsenal still struggles today and why most of the teams could defend well against Manchester United. The club could only score 49 goals in the entire season against the usual average of 70+ during Sir Alex Ferguson’s era. Jose Mourinho is known to play a boring brand of football against bigger teams, but he usually unleashes his players against the others and as we have seen several times that a club who wins against the smaller teams and draws against the big teams is most likely to win the title than not. Yes a few games may be boring, but we will most likely win them when Mourinho is in charge. That brings us to the next point.
Winner mentality
Jose Mourinho is a proven winner. Well, so is (was) Van Gaal but the difference in their attitude is like the day and night. The Portuguese will go to any length to win the games. He has won games against teams that were clear favorites (remember Inter Milan vs Barcelona?) in tournaments where nobody thought his teams had a chance (FC Porto in the Champions League?). Agreed the games were not very pretty, but the mentality to win is something that we need at Manchester United now. Since the departure of the Scott, the Red Devils have failed to show any of the zeal and enthusiasm to come back and win a game. Instead the team seems to be losing points from a winning position nowadays. Mourinho will definitely strengthen the defense and we will be able to see some fast counter attacking football is what I am expecting. The Portuguese will win, but at what cost? Well going by his previous record his public behavior is not something many at United were fond of.
Public behavior
Yes, he has behaved badly in public. Instances such as poking Tito at a tussle and openly criticizing Arsene Wenger and calling him names are some of the tricks that Mourinho is known for. While it is not an appreciated behavior, it is clear that Manchester United stand as a one of the biggest challenges and platform for him. And after years of public stunts and brashness we expect that he has learned how to behave in the media. There is a part of me that feels that while he cannot be truly British in nature and keep a calm and composed persona of Sir Alex Ferguson he will be better at United because the club will most likely not tolerate his antics in the public. Louis Van Gaal was never been one to get into the mind games and while we all would appreciate that he gets under the skins of the opposition’s manager and rile them up we would hope that Mourinho be subtle about it. His overall skill of subtlety in the transfer market needs to be carried forward to the media and public.
Transfer tactics
Over the years Jose Mourinho has shown his power of negotiation and transfer market shrewdness. Of course he has had his share of flop transfers, but mostly many of the players that he bought has been quite good. Van Gaal always complained that whenever United approached a club to purchase their player, the club always asked for exorbitant prices. Welcome Mourinho, the guy who sol Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for Etoo plus cash deal. In turn Etoo went on to win the Champions League with Inter Milan. After spending over £250 million over the last two years we would have hoped that United team would be winning against teams like Sunderland with ease. When Mourinho arrived at Chelsea at the first spell he spent a similar amount of money and the team won the Premier League. We need a manager who purchase value and not just dead weight that we have seen during Louis Van Gaal era.
New era of football
With several managerial changes in the last three years Manchester United is sure to be ushered into a new era where it may be forced to leave behind the existing tradition in order to bring stability and system into the club. Thus far the club has been known for promoting young British players and playing attacking football. With the new era they may have to sacrifice one or both of them in order to stay relevant at this point. With David Moyes, the club hoped that he could maintain frugality and deliver results just as Sir Alex Ferguson. With Louis Van Gaal the club let go of home grown manager and stuck on to the youth development agenda. With Jose Mourinho Manchester Untied is likely to let go of both but it may be just what is needed for the club to be successful again. As the time changes so should the club’s strategy.
Will signing Jose Mourinho solve Manchester United problems? Not in major part but it will get energy back into the club which is much needed. Things may not be the same as it was but as per Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “The only that is constant is change”
