Judging by the amount of money with which José Mourinho has been entrusted to buy players during this transfer window, Manchester United seem pretty confident that he is the right man for the job medium to long-term. Bear in mind, he spent around £150 million in the last Summer window and is likely to spend anything between £100 and £200 million this time, maybe even a little more.
They started in a similar fashion with Louis van Gaal when choosing to allow him much more money to spend than his predecessor, David Moyes. Van Gaal then went on to blow the money on ageing or average players, most of whom have now left the club and only three players, all signed during the David Moyes reign, are playing regular first team football.
One is the player we championed for the captaincy back in January, Ander Herrera. Then there is Marouane Fellaini who, in truth, may not be around for much longer, and Juan Mata who is Mr. Dependable whether starting games or coming off the bench.
Of van Gaal’s signings Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial have the potential to go on and thrive at Manchester United but whether either or both of them can actually do so remains to be seen. Mourinho is already showing signs of losing patience with them. Matteo Darmian has been getting some game time recently but, again, the impression is that he will be replaced sooner rather than later.
Another who had been thriving recently, until injury, was Marcos Rojo and he should find himself kept on due to his ability to play at left back or in central defence.
The signing of Victor Lindelof should, hopefully, spell the end of Chris Smalling’s very average time at United as he adds nothing other than nuisance value to the team. Phil Jones is pretty versatile in that he can switch between full back, centre back and midfield so, providing he can stay injury free, he is worth retaining and would be a good squad player.
With Alvaro Morata up front and maybe another couple of signings we can see United challenging for the title next season. This is something we hoped for, but never really expected, under Moyes and expected, but never got anywhere near, under van Gaal.
So Mourinho, who has seen his team finish lower than when van Gaal was in charge and only one place above the David Moyes season, justified completely his appointment by winning the EFL Cup and the Europa League, the latter securing Champion’s League qualification for next season.
These achievements have seen the board at Old Trafford much more forthcoming with the money than they might have been had the season ended without that Champion’s League spot. That one night in Stockholm has secured José Mourinho the manager’s job at Old Trafford for as long as he wants it, barring any implosions on the same scale as the one at Chelsea.
The style of football also improved but, let’s be honest, after van Gaal it was unlikely to get any worse!
Yes, they drew too many games, particularly at Old Trafford and no, they didn’t score enough goals, but we are sure Mourinho probably noticed those two shortcomings and is doing his best to rectify the situation.
He will never win over all the “fans“. He could emulate Fergie and win the treble and some “fans” would still want him out but that comes with the job. The fact is that he has won over the vast majority of those who thought he was the wrong choice initially.
He also seems to have won over the board and the players and, because of this, he will be successful at Manchester United, of that there is no doubt.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 