It is no secret that Jose Mourinho’s psychology is at odds with Manchester United’s traditional style of play. Everyone knew that before he was appointed. Mourinho was given the United job due to his resume as a serial winner, not because his teams play particularly expansive football.
However, after a trophyless 2017-18 and with Zinedine Zidane, three-time winner of the European Cup now out of work, Mourinho is under threat from another serial collector of trophies whose success is much more recent and who also plays the attacking football that is becoming a distant memory to United supporters.
What became clear during the summer is that United’s board have lost faith in Mourinho’s strategy. They could not understand why he wanted to spend in the region of £70-80 million on central defenders when he has already parted with £30 million on Eric Bailly and another £30 million plus £10 million in add-ons for Victor Lindelof in consecutive summer transfer windows.
The questioning of Mourinho’s transfer strategy and ideology by the United board seemed to be confirmed still further when the news broke that United were considering appointing a Director of Football for the first time in their history to give consistency to transfers and keep United true to their ideology. The names linked with the post such as Edwin van der Sar, are at odds with Mourinho’s style of play. Zidane, in contrast, wouldn’t be.
Paul Pogba’s recent comments on Jose Mourinho suggest disharmony in the Manchester United camp.
It is has been documented before that United’s forward players have been desperate to be let off the leash going forward as opposed to playing Mourinho’s more conservative style.
When United’s forward line have been permitted to play without restrictions they have plundered four goals past the likes of Everton and Leicester City last season as well as coming from behind to beat champions-elect, Manchester City 3-2, after trailing 0-2 at half-time.
No such complaints have emerged from Zidane’s camp as his attack smashed 94 goals in their 38 fixtures in La Liga whilst United in comparison only managed a paltry 68 in their 38 matches in the Premier League.
Zinedine Zidane was a curious choice for Real Madrid manager when he was appointed in 2016 to replace experienced coach, Rafa Benitez after just a few months in charge.
Madrid followed the blueprint that had earned Barcelona such rich success when they appointed Pep Guardiola as manager after he had coached the Barcelona B team. Zidane got the nod after a spell managing Madrid’s C team.
However, Zidane soon proved any doubters wrong as he won eight major trophies in just two and a half years as boss, including three consecutive European Cups, La Liga and two Club World Cups.
Zidane had the buy-in from his squad from day one and thanks to his hugely successful spell as boss of the Spanish giants, has a greater ability today than Jose Mourinho to attract world-class stars.
With the United board unwilling to back Mourinho in the transfer market, perhaps the club are holding funds back for his successor.