Why does Jose Mourinho get vitriol thrown at him?

Why does Mourinho get vitriol thrown at him?

From watching Netflix’s, The Playbook Jose Mourinho: A Coach’s Rules for Life, and I still don’t get why Jose gets all the vitriol thrown onto him. Also am kinda sad they didn’t include his second stint with us in the documentary.

It starts of with Jose giving off some really subtle Frank Underwood vibes (House of Cards), proving he is still one manipulative guy, I still root for him after he nearly led us to relegation. Dammit! I already threw Hazard and the gang under the bus when they seemed not to be playing for him. Jose builds a real cult personality about him. The media says that he’s lost that ability; with modern players having different personalities but I’m barely into my twenties and this guy still gets me. That’s why he’s Hollywood-material cause he has that aura, that sense of thrill and drama.

I sometimes get why the media might try to bring him down, cause he’s their greatest headache and always does a number on football media journalist when given a chance, and maybe that’s their form of retaliation. I truly would welcome him back at Chelsea believe it or not, despite everything he is still our greatest manager, the guy who cultivated that winning culture in Chelsea and bred a monster mentality, he also built a fan connection with the team like no other making the Bridge a fortress in his tenure.

The best/worse part of it all is that Levy seems to be delivering on his targets and once Spurs are rebuilt in his image am pretty sure that he will flourish once again.

PLEASE JUST LAY OFF HIM.
Vashow (Kenya)

Fergie had nothing left to prove…

Ben Howarth reckons that Fergie would be rubbish now but I disagree. The reason he is rated as one of the best of all time is because he evolved so effectively through the times. He adapted to Wenger’s lifestyle management revolution and then evolved again to Chelsea’s Russian money and the need to manage a 22 man squad and win 30 games a season instead of 25. I would’ve bet on him to have evolved and to be competing at the top of the league now. I’m obviously delighted he isn’t. I would almost argue that Ferguson’s only trait was winning but he was otherwise willing to find any tactical setup in order to do so. Mourinho and Pep don’t have to adaptability of Ferguson in my opinion – that’s why they both move around as things dip. Ferguson was able to keep refreshing and keep adopting new tactics which kept the players interested and kept them winning for two decades as football evolved.

I don’t think he quit because Pep beat him a couple times. I think he just felt he was old and probably couldn’t be jacked to rebuild a squad for a  fourth time. He had nothing left to prove to anyone.

God I’m so bloody glad he retired. I was fed up of watching him win.
Minty, LFC

Who’d have thought having a plan makes sense?

In watching the recent LIverpool U23s play, the second string against LIncoln and, of course, the first team in the last 3 seasons, you can clearly see the way Klopp’s team, at all levels, have been molded.

Clearly Klopp feels that the style of play is bigger than an individual player. That the style of play itself, is the playmaker – helping the team create space, chances, opportunities. Sure, the better the players the better able to take advantage of those opportunities.

It is a great juxtaposition to all those shrilly screaming to buy Sancho, Koulibay, Rice or Aouar.

If there is one thing more evident over the last decade than ever before, having a plan on how the team should play trumps buying superstars or superstars in waiting.

Sure, some may grow up to be great but many don’t.

But Klopp has made and is continuing to make average players look good, and good players look great.

Someone once said that there was nothing as uncommon as common sense. Football has it in spades.
Paul McDevitt

When your point on style lacks substance 
I was reading Matt Stead’s otherwise perfectly well written ‘Big Weekend’ piece when I came to the section on Man United. It was 6 AM on a Saturday, so I thought first that I was probably not awake yet and hadn’t understood what Matt was trying to say. But no, on second and third readings it still made no sense.

Apparently united were “out-coached by the oldest manager in the entire Football League”. Can we safely assume that last year Ole gave Pep a real footballing lesson over the 2 league games? Or that Klopp has a lot to learn from Arteta? Perish the thought that United were simply not ready for the season having had just 7 weeks of disrupted downtime.

The climactic point of the United section reads thus:

“It damns Solskjaer and the United hierarchy that Potter and a club pulling in entirely the same direction has managed to implement a more defined approach at Brighton in less time and with a fraction of the finances.”

Hang on a second. I’ve checked last season’s table again. You could have instead said that for a Club like United, finishing 3rd isn’t good enough. Or arguably that even with this squad, they should have been closer to City and Liverpool, or that the first third of last season was a particularly fallow period. But to damn the team that was 12 places ahead, with 29 more goals scored, and 18 less goals conceded as having a less defined style seems bizarre, don’t you think? There are probably dozens of teams up and down the leagues with more defined styles. But until we have a style league table, that should have less bearing on calling a football game, surely. You could even say that given how Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs have strengthened, United can ill afford to drop more points by playing the lethargic football they played against Palce. Style? I’d rather have a versatile team that can keep the opposition guessing, than a team that has a predictable style of play.

Ironically, if there’s one thing that Solskjaer has achieved, it’s a well defined approach at United, with young, hungry players, playing at a high tempo, and capable of scoring goals against any opposition. In fact there’s only been one game since the start of February where United didn’t score.

This kind of comment belongs in the anonymous mails at the bottom of the mailbox. Not in a professional analysis in F365. It smells of narrative or ABU. Take your pick.

Oh and talking about anonymous, I had a good laugh at the mail from Anon about how Ole hasn’t improved any players, where he (she?) namechecks a number of players but conveniently omits Rashford, Martial, and Greenwood.
Ved Sen (MUFC)

Worst transfer for all concerned…

In response to Mike, LFC, London – there can only be one contender for worst transfer of all time – for everyone involved.

Alexis Sanchez / Henrik Mkhitaryan swap deal.

Arsenal – as the “selling” club, turned down a reported £60m offer from Manchester City in the summer, which admittedly late in the window, with hindsight, should definitely have been accepted.  Alexis turned in a series of performances which indicated he might not be about to have the best season for Arsenal, and Arsenal eventually lost their once most saleable asset in a swap deal for an inferior player who would never be more than a bit part player at Arsenal on c.£200k per week.  And it cemented Arsenal’s inability to hold on to their key players.

Man Utd – Took on a player who was never suited to their manager’s playing style, one who whilst a mercurial talent required a manager who could stomach the “Alexis Tax”, of lost possession.  Mourinho is not that man.  As a result, they ended up with a player who cost them around £18m per year in salary, and scored three Premier League goals.  On a perception level, it reinforced the image that Utd lacked the nous and competence to identify and secure value in the transfer market.

Mkhitaryan – A player who’s reputation was already suffering when he left Man Utd, having never quite performed at the levels his Dortmund form suggested he could, he nevertheless made 63 appearances in two seasons, scoring 15 goals.  Moving to Arsenal, a side without an attacking identity at the end of Wenger’s era, and then a listless period under Unai Emery, he averaged fewer than 20 appearances per season, and nine goals in total.  His standing within the Arsenal fan base diminished to the point that when Arsenal paid out his contract to let him move to Roma this summer, no one was disappointed.

Alexis Sanchez – As above, moved from a manager who allowed him to express himself, to one who was never likely to indulge the wastefulness he was often guilty of.  After three and a half seasons at Arsenal he was one of the most admired players in English, possibly European, football.  His following season and a half at United saw 32 league appearances, 3 goals and the shift in status to being viewed as a millstone around the club’s neck.  Oh, and it transpires he hates life in Manchester, and wanted to leave as soon as he got there.

All in all, a pretty dogshit transfer.
Thom, PAFC, London

Et tu, Brute?!!!

I have been doing a bit of soul searching looking for perspective  after much frustration in our first game. I’ve read some mails and am getting confused when people talk about better options in the Management department because for me at least it signifies one of two things. We need Tactical acumen and/or pedigree. Now I do not jest when I ask who has more tactical acumen than Jose Mourinho or more pedigree than Louis Van Gaal? Is it zero trophies Pochettino replaced by the fore mentioned Jose? Yet both Jose and LvG despite outspending Ole failed at Old Trafford. Failed to entertain failed to win….Alex Ferguson was so successful because he was given a chance almost fired mind you…. I know the media might paint it differently but Ole hasn’t actually failed. Mind blowing right? Sensationalism for you! During all of Ed Woodward’s dithering the media and even F365 were very reasonable even writing an article about how Ole was being setup for failure but one loss in, F365 was the first to stick the knife in to Ole after he correctly identified that he needed a right winger, a pacey CB and a left back in March. Et tu, Brute?!!!
Simba, perplexed.

Ole’s at the wheel…

In my humble opinion Ole has done a wonderful job and should be rewarded with an extended contract look how he managed to get us into the top four ! Most of the season we were mid table mediocrity so we got smashed by Crystal Palace but let’s not forget they are managed by one of our countries finest in Roy Hodgeson hes probably forgotten more than pep and Jurgen know put together. So I say let him get on with it and fingers crossed a few lucky signings and if our goalkeeper gets his head right we could easy make it to the top four again think positive. REMEMBER OLES AT THE WHEEL !!
Ian

Wait for it United Fans…

Dear Editor,

So last week I thought we would be making some buys after losing the game (I actually said smoked by Crystal Palace, didn’t really think that would really happen though!).

I’m guessing it’ll be after tomorrow’s away game at Brighton, when that really good and underrated team will pick us apart, that is when United leadership will wake up (wishful thinking).

Dark times, we will live but Ole is looking in real danger. For all the PE Teacher’s mockery of his lack of tactical creativity, last season he played majority of the games with Lingard & Pereira as the creators. Let that sink in. For all the criticism that he hasn’t improved players, just look at Martial, Rashford & Fred. And if there is any other upcoming talent better managed than Greenwood please let me know. That was Ole! And he also managed to bag a few key tactical battles against the big name managers like Pep and Mou. Don’t think I need to add more.

All in all they’ve made Ole’s job much harder and with all the last season’s good will evaporated, we’re going to need some miracles which the inept management cannot pull off.

Thank you,
AVM (TL;DR: Sadly, another loss for United to go into full meltdown tomorrow)

First live football…

Apologies for the length but please bear with me.

Chris Tanner’s email about his first live football experiences and in particular his Wembley visit with Enfield brought back my own very similar experience, albeit 22 years earlier!

As a 10 year old football fanatic (England were World Champions don’t forget), I lived and breathed it, pestered my Dad every weekend to take me to watch Liverpool but he never did, something to do with him preferring to play golf on a Saturday morning and fall asleep in front of the ITV7 in the afternoon!  However an opportunity arose when an old friend of his from the north east telephoned to say he and his son were coming to Skelmersdale United to watch Bishop Aukland in the Amateur Cup and would he like to meet up.  My dad realised he could take me to a live game without all the hassle of a big crowd and thought this would satisfy my itch.  Obviously, I was a little underwhelmed, Skem who?, Bishop what? and so make it more thrilling he brought in “if they get to the final, it’s at Wembley”, “if they do dad, can we go?”, “sure we can” he replied, confident that the much more famous north east team would easily dispatch their not so famous opponents.

Well Skem won 3-0 and were drawn at home again, Leyton (?) were easily dispatched 3-0 and another 1-0 home win against Wealdstone followed, the crowds at White Moss Lane were much larger than expected and Cup fever had hit the Jones family which now included a sister and cousin in the match day party.  An away draw to Slough was deemed too far to travel, but a 2-2 draw saw them return home and a 1-0 win put Skem in the semi-final.

The game was to take place at the Baseball ground and this was the first “professional” ground I ever stepped foot on, 0-0 saw a replay scheduled for St Andrews 7 days later and a thrilling 2-2 meant a second replay 4 days later at the Hawthorns, UNDER FLOODLIGHTS!

What a thrill and I had now visited 3 football league grounds in 12 days, a 3-1 win had me Wembley bound and just like Chris, the whole day was magical, Wembley Way, up the steps and then the light from the pitch when standing in the concourse was an experience never to be forgotten and the roar of 75,000 fans (!!!) was incredible, our opponents, ENFIELD!  A dour 0-0 draw was about to pass by when Skem were awarded a last minute penalty, club stalwart Alan Bermingham (not a spelling mistake) stepped forward but it was saved!  The only consolation was now a replay at Maine Road and I would be going to the home of a local big club.

Saturday came and off we went to Manchester, eagerly awaiting our second cup final in 8 days, but and I have never forgiven MCFC for this, they failed to anticipate the level of support Skem and Enfield had attracted, more than 30,000, and didn’t open all four sides of the ground, we and thousands more were locked out!!!

Thinking on his feet my dad quickly got us to Old Trafford and somehow we gained entrance to watch ManU play Aston Villa, my first ever live first Division game at the home of the soon to be League Champions, United won 3-0 and Best and Law were among the scorers, what more could a 10 year old want?

Actually, I wanted to be at Maine Road watching my new heroes, Norman Whitehead, Allan Mansley and Micky Burns, all who would go on to play professionally, Burns would make over 400 appearances, 145 for Newcastle ,  Skem would lose 3-0 and my day was ruined, this probably explains why my allegiance to Liverpool (it wasn’t an hereditary choice) never wavered and I wasn’t attracted to the dark side, but I was hooked on attending football matches and in August 1967 made my Anfield debut, the rest, as they say, is history.

Occasionally my mind will wander back to 7,500 people singing “Skem United, hallelujah, hallelujah” and the same number (well it seemed it) invading the pitch at the final whistle, football, it gets to you doesn’t it.
Howard (my dad never went again) Jones

Best ever live…

I have probably waxed lyrical regarding a certain night at Old Trafford in 1984 but I will (as Stevie G famously said) go again.

We were 2 nil down to a Maradona lead Barcelona in the Cup winners Cup and looking down and out, up stepped the greatest club captain I have ever had the privilege to watch (Bryan Robson) and take the game to Barcelona from the off. Any United fan who attended that night will tell you it was the best atmosphere Old Trafford had ever witnessed; forget your “Famous Anfield European nights” tm this was a proper atmosphere absolutely bouncing from the first whistle right through to the end.

The man tasked with marking Maradona was right back Mick Duxbury, now I’m not exaggerating when I say he actually had the greatest player of that generation in his pocket the entire game, a one point a clearly frustrated Diego after not being able to once again get past Duxbury flicked the ball up and overhead kicked a cross straight to the keeper. Bryan Robson scored his first in the 23rd minute and United fans dared to dream, 5 minutes into the second half Old Trafford erupted as Captain fantastic got is second, the place was bouncing so much so you couldn’t actually hold a conversation with the person next to you such was the level of noise, three minutes later Frank Stapleton got the third and final goal, we hung on for a famous victory with the players being carried off the pitch. As an aside I actually took my then girlfriend to her very first ever football match she asked was the noise always like this?

I wished it was true but no you have witnessed a very special night. Obviously being United in the 80s we got knocked out by Juventus in the semi-final Paulo Rossi scoring the winner in the 90th minute.
Paul Murphy, Manchester

What does it feel like?

Just wondering what it feels like to read an article linking your team to a player and actually realistically thinking this could happen? And happen quickly?
Jon, Cape Town (enjoying another window chasing a player for a ridiculous amount who we probably still won’t get while everyone else hoovers up talent comparatively effortlessly and at reasonable prices. It’s groundhog day from the Baines/Fellani window for utd – oh well, maybe Jlingz will kick on from his impressive goal tally last season…Where’s are my marbles?)

Footballers who turned out better than their fathers…

Xabi Alonso. How could you miss him ?

His father was no slouch, I think winning La Liga three times at Sociedad and Barca and some Spain caps. You’d think that wasn’t too shabby, unless you were Xabi.
Matt (Sorry. I’m so sorry).