Bharath Rammr
Pressure on manager Jose Mourinho has eased in the last few weeks and it has been reflecting in the press conference given by the Portuguese boss. Mourinho has even tried to kickstart mind games with the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool in recent interviews. He feels that Manchester United have firmly established the basis for success and that he is starting to ‘feel at home’ at Old Trafford. Mourinho has managed to turn around United’s form, as they have secured their fifth consecutive victory of late.
Champions League places are once again back within the reach of United, and the club can finally relax about the situation. For several weeks and matches, Mourinho was criticised for the lack of complete understanding of the squad. It appears to have been a true situation with the Portuguese unable to get the best out of his existing squad. Even the new signings, who had been brought in for more than £150 million, also struggled. Now, though, there is a lot of confidence in this United squad and they are clearly looking like a team capable of challenging for the title. He was quoted as saying by the club’s official website:
“For me it was easy to come. A difficult job, but easy now to feel at home. Easy to feel good in the club, easy to feel that the club wants to progress, the people want to be happy again and I felt good immediately.
“So five, six months here, but really feeling at home. For me it was quite easy. Obviously expectations are high, results up and down, we are in a position that is not the position where we want to be.
“But in terms of passion for my work, passion for my new club, feeling really happy here, yes.”
Mourinho has had immense success wherever he has been, but the last 18 months have been a difficult period for him. After getting sacked at Chelsea, many expected United to go on a brilliant run when José was appointed. This has not been the case, and Mourinho has had to fall out with some of the players already. A number of stars like Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, and Bastian Schweinsteiger did not receive a look in earlier on in the campaign. Now, the Portuguese manager has managed to bring together the two eras of the club – Sir Alex Ferguson era and the modern names.
Players like Michael Carrick, and Wayne Rooney have been playing a much bigger role in the last few games. They have been infused in the team along with the current superstars like Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a seamless manner. Mourinho has been searching for a perfect combination to fit the huge number of stars he has at his disposal. It seems that he has arrived on a settled formation and United are unlikely to change on the system any time soon.
In addition to the large sums of money spent over the last three years, United are expected to announce the signing of Victor Lindelof in the next few days. The Swedish defender will arrive from Benfica for a figure of £38 million, which could rise to up to £42 million depending on his success at Old Trafford.
