Archive for the ‘Jose Mourinho’ Category

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On the back of his undoubted success at Porto, José Mourinho was appointed by Chelsea owner Román Abramóvich to take the team to the next level which, in their case at that time, was to win the Premier League.

This is where the Mourinho success story really begins. In his first season with Chelsea he won the Premier League and League Cup spending ÂŁ81.2 million in the process. The following year he retained the Premier League and won the FA and the League Cups whilst spending a paltry ÂŁ58.4 million. He then had a barren year but still managed to spend ÂŁ63 million and this was followed by a further ÂŁ17.2 million the season he left. (more…)

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Guest Author: Ojo Olayiwola of Football Weeks

Manchester United started the season on a high note but have since gone into a decline as they have only managed to gather four points from their last four league games and need to knuckle down to revive their title race.

However, with the return of their key players from injury and the pressure of upcoming fixtures not as fierce as the previous ones, the Red Devils have reason to be optimistic.

The story is different with the Magpies, whose trip to Old Trafford marks the beginning of their run into their biggest challenges of the season with fixtures against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City coming immediately afterwards. (more…)

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Never say never. There is a chance that José Mourinho actually does want to manage PSG at some stage of his career, just not yet, it would only make sense if United were to sack him.

What would he achieve? A Champion’s League title in another country? Probably, but is that really the kind of achievement he wants on his CV? Winning trophies at a club who will forever be accused of doing so because of their wealth rather than any managerial ability.

No, Mourinho is far better off at United for the time being. Yes, he has money to spend but, in the Premier League unlike in Ligue 1, that is no guarantee that he will win the title. (more…)

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Manchester United fans are a fickle bunch. The club sit second in the Premier League. They need one more point to ensure qualification to the knockout stage of the Champion’s League, having won EVERY game they have played, they are in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and last season they picked up two major trophies.

At ANY other club, with the possible exception of Real Madrid, this would be seen as success. JosĂ© Mourinho would be hailed the conquering hero and there would be talk of a statue being erected outside the ground. (more…)

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Is José Mourinho just flirting with PSG in order to get some attention from his current employers? It is reported that he has asked for a “massive” pay rise, whatever that is, in order to sign a new and extended contract with United and he could be using the fact that he is still able to command the top jobs in European football as leverage to get it.

He could also be seriously contemplating taking the PSG job, either at the end of this contract or the next one.

United fans need to remember that, for Mourinho, this may be his biggest job to date, but it is still just another in the line of big jobs he has already undertaken and doesn’t necessarily mean he is at the end of his nomadic wanderings. (more…)

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So it is nearly time for the two new BFFs to face off against each other in a Manchester derby unlike any other.

This is the first time the game will be played, not only outside of Manchester, but also, outside of the UK.

A Portuguese coach will square up his team of Spanish, Armenian, French, Italian, Belgian, Argentinian, Swedish, Portuguese, Dutch, Ivory Coast and English players against a Spanish coach and his team of Brazilian, Argentinian, Spanish, Belgian, Ivory Coast, Ukrainian, Turkish, German, French and English players, in the USA! USA! USA! That, folks, is the Manchester derby nowadays. (more…)

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Two managers with no history whatsoever of wanting to stay at a club for more than two or three years. In fact no history, as managers, of actually staying at a club for more than two or three years. Yet there has been a dramatic u-turn by the pair of them and they have now both stated that they want to stay where they are for “a long time“. Why?

Take, for example, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman. These are two managers who you would expect to crave longevity. They have both previously managed Southampton with very similar records of relative success. This has been a springboard to bigger things with Pochettino moving to Tottenham and Koeman to Everton. (more…)

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There has been a lot of rubbish written recently as to why José Mourinho bought Romelu Lukaku and why, supposedly, he wants to buy Timoue Bakayoko. Amongst the explanations given has been one which suggests that he wants to get one over his old club.

Why? What would that achieve? Personal satisfaction because they sacked him? We doubt that, particularly when all the evidence points to Mourinho having engineered his own exit so that he could take the United job. (Read here, if you haven’t already done so).

Apart from which, Mourinho may be a spiteful person at times, but he is much too professional to let that side of his personality affect his judgement when it concerns Manchester United. (more…)

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This is not to say that JosĂ© Mourinho would be sacked if he finished third although he might be on a bit of a tightrope if fourth was the best he could do, even though it would be an improvement on this year’s finish.

Obviously winning the Premier League would excuse any slip-ups in any other competition but, the lower the finish, then the better he has to do in the Champion’s League and the FA Cup. (more…)

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Judging by the amount of money with which JosĂ© 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 ÂŁ150 million in the last Summer window and is likely to spend anything between ÂŁ100 and ÂŁ200 million this time, maybe even a little more. (more…)