For Manchester
United fans, it looks like Halloween has arrived earlier than
usual.
The same issues and
indicative tones that have plaqued Jose Mourinho's teams
historically, albeit during his third seasons, is rearing its ugly head early
on. Mourinho is a great coach no doubt, and his results used to show
that.
Unfortunately, these
days, the results, which gave a measure of method to his madness, is not what
it used to be, and with that comes the incessant criticisms.
The tactician has
benched his record signing for the past two games, instead trusting a youngster
Scott Mctominay for the starting spot. This obiously hasnt gone down well with
the Frenchman who was also substituted in the games against both Tottenham and
Newcastle. Fighting his players, or losing the dressing room is the first sign
of what has become a career signature for the Portugese tactician. From here,
things only go downwards.
At Real Madrid,
the first indication of what was to come was his clash with Casillas, and
later, other players. At first, it looked as if he was winning. That myopic
notion was fuelled by the wanning prowess of Iker Casillas who
was subsequently sold to Porto at the first opportunity. But the discord in the
dressing room could not be solved easily, and it engulfed into an inferno that
burnt Mourinho's credibility with the Spanish giants that ultimately cost him
his job.
The same signs were
evident during his second spell at Chelsea. He clashed with players, most
especially Eden Hazard. Unlike Casillas, Hazard was Chelsea's best
player and benching him would have been counter-productive (although Mourinho
still tried). Unlike at Madrid too, Chelsea was unable to find
a short-term solution, and so had to ride on, hoping the waves of negativity
surrounding the Club would not push them into relegations waters.
And it almost did. So,
they had to sack the Portugese.
Manchester United, who
knew Mourinho's history yet decided to stick with him must be having a sense of
Deja-vu. The stories coming out of Old Thradford are all too
familiar. The familiarity also comes with the inevitable - a severing of ties
after inreconciliable differences after players have downed tools.
First Pogba, but who
would be next?
For many, especially
rival fans, the whole situation might be fun and a cause for endless banter,
but for me, he has become predictably boring.
No comments
Post a Comment