The Manchester United Thread XIX

I'm sure you've said in the past that you absolutely don't want Mourinho? Funny how opinions change when it looks like something become possible.

Fickle as ****.

Of course he's quality. He's a world class manager who's just having s bad run. It happens with them all - the same happened to Klopp at Dortmund.

Mourinho will always be a short term option - similarly to Pep, he gets bored if he's winning too easy. That's why I like him as a manager; he enjoys a challenge and that's what it's all about.

Klopp is obviously at a disadvantage being at Liverpool, but you could have said the same whilst he was at Dortmund to be honest.

I never thought I'd live to see the day Utd fans were calling for Morinho as manager. He won with Chelsea but Moyes, Kevin Keegan, Gary Monk ... etc could have won with a squad of top players at the top of their game, hungry to prove themselves.

Some fans are straight up delusional.

Imagine keeping a manager who has no direction whatsoever.

Seem to remember Moyes getting much more stick. Goes to show reputation goes a long way.

Jose dont really promote young players
LVG is unlikely to go unless in the summer

Would you guys want Mourinho now?

He's obviously good at spending a lot of money but I don't think the current Man Utd squad suits him at all?

Sold Mata once. Doesn't trust youth like Martial. Midfield of Carrick and Schweinsteiger not really powerful enough for Mourinho's set up.

Reputation does mean a lot. I mean, any other manager than Mourinho would have been sacked by Chelsea a couple months ago. If you're experienced and have won in the past, people will give you more leeway.


I would argue that, that isn't the biggest concern for Man United at this current time. We need the first team to win first. I don't think there is really time to blood youngsters. The only one we have that should be getting a lot of playtime is Martial. I can't see any manager coming in and not using him.


What are the other options? You can stick with Van Gaal, but what he is doing is not working. There is still time to recover this season.

I'd rather the club took action now, rather than wait until the season is already over before doing anything.

Yea you either stick or twist with your current manager. Klopp is a great example of sticking with your manager in his last season at Dortmund. Terrible start but pulled it back to 7th and qualified for Europe.

Klopp has been successful with that squad in the past, though. Van Gaal is relatively new here and has spent huge amounts of money. Our performances aren't in any way convincing. There are very few performances over a year and a half where I can really say we have looked good.

I have little faith in him fixing these problems. If others have faith that he can get this team playing well, I'd like to know their reasons why.

I think the downside is having a new manager again change the direction of the transfers and playing style. It all takes time so Mourinho probably won't have any quick fixes either.

Just looking at the table, I wouldn't be too rash in deciding to get rid of Van Gaal. You assume Leicester will fall away and then United aren't too far behind the rest right now. But then you think that he's wasted about £300m and plays atrocious football, and it doesn't really bode well for the future. Considering that he only has one more year left on his contract after this one and that all the good managers are about to be snapped up, it might be best to make a move for the long term. It's looking like it'll be Mourinho though, and is he really a long term manager? He has failed to be so far, and will be coming into a low confidence United side on the back of his worst spell as a manager ever. He's also constantly getting banned and seems to fall out with a lot of people. Is he a better option than Van Gaal right now?

Just looking at the table, I wouldn't be too rash in deciding to get rid of Van Gaal. You assume Leicester will fall away and then United aren't too far behind the rest right now. But then you think that he's wasted about £300m and plays atrocious football, and it doesn't really bode well for the future. Considering that he only has one more year left on his contract after this one and that all the good managers are about to be snapped up, it might be best to make a move for the long term. It's looking like it'll be Mourinho though, and is he really a long term manager? He has failed to be so far, and will be coming into a low confidence United side on the back of his worst spell as a manager ever. He's also constantly getting banned and seems to fall out with a lot of people. Is he a better option than Van Gaal right now?

That is a fair point. There are no guarantees that Mourinho will change anything quickly enough to save the season.

I guess I'm hoping for the up turn in form that does sometimes happen when a new manager comes in.


They're fair points. I do think Mourinho is far more of a risk now than he was a year and a half ago. You can't really ignore how bad his Chelsea team has been.

I guess I'm not like a lot of United fans. Many talk about the long term, but I don't think it's realistic in this day and age. The average manager lasts two years or so in the Premier League. I don't ever expect us to have a Sir Alex again, so I'd absolutely take a short term manager to sort things out. I thought that guy might be Van Gaal, but he is currently failing. The club needs to get it's short term future sorted out first. If our form doesn't change, we will fail to even qualify for the Champions League...again.

One thing to remember about Mourinho is that he rarely leaves his teams in a great place when he inevitably leaves after 2-3 years. I think only Chelsea after his first stint he left a fantastic squad. Real Madrid's squad would've been there with or without him.

What do you think United should do in the short term? When Van Gaal leaves, who do you think should be the replacement?

Would Mourinho drop Rooney and make Smalling captain.

@hayles101 please advise.

One thing to remember about Mourinho is that he rarely leaves his teams in a great place when he inevitably leaves after 2-3 years. I think only Chelsea after his first stint he left a fantastic squad. Real Madrid's squad would've been there with or without him.

When you say Klopp is disadvantaged what do you mean? With the squad?

If so would argue whoever else comes in for the Utd job has just as difficult a starting position. The squad is tiny.

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I would probably sack LVG, appoint Mourinho and give him 100mil in January. He won't leave the squad in a great shape when he'd leave in like 2.5 years time but what Man Utd need to do is just win trophies in the short term. If you don't win anything this summer, it will have been 3 years. Missing out on CL this season would be massive. Man Utd's reputation meant that missing one year didn't harm trying to lure players but if you miss out again so soon, I think some top players would avoid coming to Man Utd next summer.

Man Utd generate enough cash to burn but you need success to keep getting that cash in the medium term.

But I guess there's a reason why Mourinho was overlooked a couple of summers ago?