Yesterday Jose entered his press conference for Brighton stating he "was alive" and opened into a 12 minute rant on the back of a spineless defeat at home to Sevilla. Does Mourinho's rant hold any validity or is this simply more of a negative environment from the Portuguese manager? This article will look into the main claims from the rant.
"He opened by stating about the lack of European success from the recent years of Manchester United, and supporting himself in the fact that he has won a European cup (Europa league)."
He is correct in stating that in 2008 was the last time that Manchester won the Champions league and the last time they were in a final was 2011. The issue is when you look into the opponents that Manchester United faced when he is stating his credentials.
2011-2012 - Knocked out the champions league group stages and lost in The last 16 of the Europa league by Athletico Bilbao, this was seen as a massive failure and a shock to the system for Alex Ferguson's men.
2012-2013 - Knocked out by Mourinho's Real Madrid in the last 16, I feel there is no shame in getting knocked out by the record holders of the cup.
2013-2014 - Quarter final knockout Bayern Munich, again a very strong team who won four trophies that season and won the champions league the season before. The following season there would be no European football as the first transitional season from Sir Alex would end badly with Moyes getting the chop and Manchester United finishing 7th.
2015-2016 - Another poor campaign in the return to Champions league football would result in Man United failing to leave the group stages, they skipped into the Europa League to lose to Liverpool in the last 16 in a tightly contested game. Liverpool would go on to get to the final, but lose to Sevilla.
2016-2017 - Mourinho guides them to Europa League success, this is a great accomplishment, but it does hide the fact that all the teams Manchester United came up against, you would expect them to beat (Saint-Étienne, Rostov, Anderlecht, Celta Vigo and Ajax in knock out games) and they focused heavily on the competition instead of the Premier league as they were out of the race for champions league places.
2017- 2018 - Last 16 of Champions league after losing at home to Sevilla.
Analysis of claim:- In retrospect, apart from 2011-2012 and 2015-2016, Manchester United have not under preformed, they have just come up against the European elites in the early stages of the competition, Sevilla should have been a easy pass into the next stages of the Champions league, especially coming away with a score draw at the The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. He is wrong to throw criticism at past campaigns as David Moyes progressed further in Europe than Jose.
"Premier league performance have improved , In the last 4 years the best position was 4th and they are currently 2nd at the tail end of the season."
The premier league has evolved since the time of Sir Alex, where he left in 2013 with a title and accumulating 89 points. Man City were now established big boys, Chelsea with Russian money were always in the running and Arsenal always securing that top 4 place. Fast forward from then to Mourinho's time at Manchester United, we have seen a shock winner of the league in 2015-2016, Tottenham develop into a challenging team and the resurgence of Liverpool. The premier league has become a tougher more money fuelled competition with some of the greatest managers in world football clashing.
Anlaysis - It only adds to the job that Mourinho is accomplishing right now, in the last title winning season at Man United, at this time in the season (game 30) there is only a 10 point difference, and with the uprising of Liverpool and Tottenham this is a great achievement.
"Higher football heritage at Manchester City. Mourinho is claiming because of the players that came before Pep, that they started in a better position than Manchester United."
I feel this is a poor statement from Mourinho and is more the way of football. Yes Manchester City have spent more in the last 6 years than Manchester United, but Manchester United has a higher wage bill, pays more on average than Manchester City and comparing to the other top 4 most successful teams in that time period has spent far more after returns in transfer sales.
Manchester United - Gross = 854.33 Million Euros Net = 631.62 Million Euros
Manchester City - Gross = 893.95 Million Euros Net = 725.43 Million Euros
Chelsea - Gross = 858.91 Million Euros Net = 214.63 Million Euros
Arsenal - Gross = 369.62 Million Euros Net = 235.77 Million Euros
Analysis :- Complaining about heritage at one of the most successful clubs in both the footballing world and the business world is a deflection tactic. He would not be complaining if some of Manchester's great buys would have turned out to be flops. I think it is insulting to use the world heritage in a negative way when it comes to Manchester United, they have a very rich, successful history.
Overall,his outburst is down to sheer pressure, yes he is challenging well in the premier league that has been bulldozed by Manchester City, but is also having negatives pointed out for the style of football he is creating. In Europe he should be preforming better, in regards to the heritage, calibre of players and transfers in recent years. This is a clear diversion tactic by "The Special One", heritage is nothing to do with it, and is more about the negative environment that has been created by him and the downfall of United in recent years.
Do you have another analysis? Do you think he is having a good season? Do you think he should leave at the end of the season? Leave your comments below!