Jose Mourinho losing Manchester United dressing room
By Damian Smith
Jose Mourinho is in danger of losing control of the Manchester United dressing room. The Old Trafford manager launched a scathing attack on his players following his side fell to a humiliating 3-1 defeat to Watford.
Manchester United players were left stunned by Jose Mourinho’s verbal attack on young defender Luke Shaw. The 21-year-old is said to have been playing through a minor injury at Vicarage Road last weekend.
Dangerously familiar territory for Jose Mourinho;
Jose Mourinho needs to be very cautious here and consider his next move carefully. To alienate his players so early in his reign at Manchester United would be a colossal mistake.
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This in no way means that the Portuguese will realize his mistake. He has famously fallen out with his players at Real Madrid. Then most recently during his second spell in charge of Chelsea.
His Chelsea disaster happened only last year. To be honest I was very surprised by the positive reaction from Manchester United fans upon his appointment as Louis Van Gaal’s replacement.
Last season Chelsea started off as defending champions riding high on confidence and marveling at how “The Special One” returned them to glory. Then very early on in the campaign he started passing the blame for a dismal start on to his players and staff.
Giant red flag for fans
As a life long Manchester United fan I was troubled by the appointment of Jose Mourinho from day 1. He is a short-term manager and it looked as if we were trading rich heritage for instant gratification.
Just look at his recent record of causing player unrest and alienating long time servants of his clubs. Such as Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and John Terry at Chelsea.
This should have been a very clear warning to the Glazers. But it was ignored and Manchester United went ahead and put all their eggs in Jose Mourinho’s basket. Astronomical spending on transfer fee’s and wages means that fans expect glory days to return sooner rather than later,
What can the manager do to rebuild his relationship with the team?
The next few days are crucial to Jose Mourinho and his immediate future with the Red Devils. If he can search deep within himself and find a shred of humility, he may be able to salvage his relationship with the players.
Sir Alex Ferguson would never have erupted in public like that. Affairs such as this were handled in-house. Maybe Mourinho could share a bottle of wine with the legendary former manager and take some words of wisdom.
If he can’t, and let’s say the team go out and lose to League 1 outfit Northampton Town, then the vultures and haters that are so keen to slate this group will come out in force.
It will be difficult to keep defending Jose Mourinho should he lose tomorrow. It will be the first time in his career to lose 4 straight games. I truly hope he doesn’t pass that milestone while at Manchester United.
How he can turn results around for Manchester United
There are a few steps that can be taken to stop the rot and return to winning ways. The first one that springs to mind is the most obvious yet least reported. Drop Marouane Fellaini from the starting 11!!!
It defies simple logic that the Belgian tall man is still on Mourinho’s team sheet. Maybe he is in possession of some photographs that “The Special One”doesn’t want going public.
Fellaini’s awful passing and tackling has cost his side in every game this season. Most recently making sure Watford couldn’t be caught by lunging in needlessly and conceding a late penalty.
It might also be time to consider dropping Wayne Rooney. The captain’s form as clearly taken a dive of late. This is in no small part to the fact that nobody seems to know where to play him. Fans have grown tired with of his consistent below par performances.
Next: Jose Mourinho plays Manchester United blame game
One good pass out of every 10 just isn’t good enough. There is no denying the years of great service the former Everton player has given us over the years. But in the fall of his career it seems it may be time to look to the future and not the past.