MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 11: Jose Mourinho the head coach / manager of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Etihad Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Jose Mourinho wants to damage Manchester United’s future
Jose Mourinho knows many officials at Manchester United want to sack him, as such, he’s making sure they’ll struggle to find a suitable replacement.
Winning three matches in a row prior to a loss to Manchester City last weekend had served to raise some spirits around Old Trafford. In particular, those results seemed to solidify Jose Mourinho’s status in charge of the club. Unfortunately for United fans, Mourinho is already taking action to make sure the club can’t hire a quality successor.
Specifically, Mourinho is telling everyone who will listen that everything at Manchester United these days is “second-rate.” The latest issue to draw the controversial manager’s wrath is the way the club travel to away Champions League ties. Apparently, he wasn’t enthused with his side’s late arrivals to matches against Juventus and Valencia during the past several weeks. Presumably, fans should ignore his side’s frequent struggles to show up to Premier League matches on time as well.
Even more concerning for Mourinho is his perception of the club’s recruitment team. He feels that Manchester United are lagging well behind the likes of City and Liverpool in this department. Evidently, the club’s scouts aren’t capable of identifying the right prospects and Ed Woodward is not able to sign the world-class stars that are within the club’s grasp. Again, we’re to believe that Mourinho, himself, deserves zero blame for the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez.
It’s blatantly obvious what Mourinho is trying to do here. He realizes that his time at Old Trafford is coming to an end. He might manage to survive until next season, but there’s zero chance he’s going to be the manager at United much past that.
As such, his current goal is to make sure that he looks as good as possible after his inevitable exit. The easiest way he can do that is to make sure Woodward and company can’t hire a big name replacement. Mourinho’s plan is to run down the club within the world of football to the point that big name managers will pass on the opportunity to succeed him at Old Trafford.
In the end, it’s a plan that is unlikely to work. The allure of managing at Manchester United will be more than enough to draw significant interest after Mourinho departs. Many people in the world of football are also smart enough to see through The Special One’s flimsy plan here.
In the end, this is just another sign that Mourinho and United are heading towards an ugly divorce. It’s really just a matter of time before the two parties part on ugly terms.
