“I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them.,”, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho exclaimed seconds before storming out of the press conference that followed his team’s gut-wrenching 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham.
“Respect, respect, respect man,” Mourinho added as he walked away from the media room.
The Portuguese tactician is demanding respect from the members of the media and the general public who had him barraged with criticism at the beginning of the 2018/19 campaign. But does he offer any respect in return – respect to the legacy of a club such as Manchester United whose supporters do not deserve such lethargic Red Devils.
Manchester United are sitting in 13th place in the Premier league table after three rounds. The Red Devils won one and lost the remaining two games as pressure increases on Mourinho and his players. The Monday night’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham ended up being the heaviest home loss in Jose Mourinho’s career whereas losing two of his first three league matches is another first for the Portuguese tactician.
Move On, Jose Mourinho
From a statistical point of view, Jose Mourinho is – hands down – the most successful manager in the Premier League and one of the most illustrious coaches in the world.
His five Premier League titles speak volumes of his ability, whereas further two titles in Portugal, another two in Italy and one in Spain are a good reminder of Mourinho’s winning mentality. The Portuguese also has two Champions League titles in his trophy cabinet, as well as the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017.
It’s been three years since Jose Mourinho last won the Premier League title and with all due respect to his managerial record, it would be fair to say he hasn’t been the same man ever since.
The tide of time seems to be rolled over him and the Portuguese has become a man living in the past. Football as a whole has hit the fast lane whereas Mourinho remains stuck in his glory days, refusing to change his modus operandi and embrace the changes.
He looks like a coach whose harking back to the past and talking about old records has blinded him and allowed the game to pass him by. The worst thing of it all, Mourinho has turned into a grumpy and resentful old man – albeit still at a relatively young age of 55 – who is unable to accept criticism.
Want to be Respected, Jose Mourinho?
Jose Mourinho has already been involved in a tense press conference earlier in the week, when he arrived 30 minutes early, defended his relationship with Ed Woodward and left after less than five minutes.
And now, after being confronted with an argument he didn’t like, Mourinho left the press room angry again, demanding respect when – in all honesty – he did not offer any of the same in return.
The arguments Manchester United manager is throwing in response to criticism sound like Jose is the man who lost the plot. If we were to assume a neutral point of view – as we should – it’s fair to say the way Manchester United opened the match against Tottenham with clear signs of improvement. And the fans recognised the effort.
The Red Devils were compact in the middle and pressed Spurs high never allowing them to come near David De Gea’s goal. They held well until the 50th minute when Harry Kane scored a lovely header to give his team the lead.
Jose Mourinho would have been right to demand respect had he been able to help his team get back up to their feet after going down with 40 minutes left to be played. Instead, his players shrugged their shoulders and fell apart as a team – ultimately conceding two more for a compelling 3-0 loss.
Where is the Passion, Jose Mourinho?
Harry Kane’s opener saw Manchester United surrender in a disappointing fashion. Sir Alex Ferguson would have never allowed it to happen. Jose Mourinho from his best Inter Milan and Chelsea days would have never allowed it to happen. But Jose Mourinho from 2018 apparently would.
Manchester United boast a quality squad filled with exciting attacking potential and world-class material players. The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba and even the much debated Anthony Martial are all players capable of turning the game around. Yet Jose Mourinho is constantly going for the defence-oriented approach, often explaining that he is a result-driven individual.
“I am sorry. You have to tell me what is the most important thing because I don’t know. When I win matches I come here many times and you are not happy that I win matches and you say the most important is the way of playing.”, Mourinho said after the Tottenham defeat shortly before storming out.
The Manchester United squad seems – on paper at least – capable of doing both: playing well and playing for the result.
It just seems that the players no longer play for Mourinho and that the passion has vanished. Without a leader on the pitch and a disgruntled person leading them from the touchline, Manchester United are slowly becoming too dreary, too lacklustre and too passionless.
No wonder the bookies have them only at 50/1 to lift the Premier League title this season which, from this point, seems downright impossible. Jose Mourinho at a 9/10 price to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job is a different story though.
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