Jose Mourinho should stop Manchester United negotiations
At some point, Jose Mourinho has to tell Manchester United to shove their ridiculous managerial offer
Jose Mourinho might not be the perfect fit to manage Manchester United, but he’s certainly too good to be jerked around by the folks at Old Trafford. If Ed Woodward and company are really suggesting that he wait until 2017 to take over the Premier League giants, he should tell them he’ll find another club.
The recent reports from England claiming that Woodward has only offered Mourinho the job after another season of Louis van Gaal is quite literally mind boggling. For starters, I cannot imagine why Woodward would want to see another season of LVG football at the club. Even if van Gaal’s results have met the club’s minimum standards this season, the hideous style of play should be enough to send him packing.
Secondly, does Woodward really believe he has that much leverage in negotiations with Mourinho? We aren’t talking about Ryan Giggs here. While Mourinho might really see United as his dream job, it’s not as if he really has all of his eggs in that managerial basket. Surely if another one of the world’s clubs, like PSG for instance, came calling for next season, he’d snap up that offer in a heart beat. Only a fool can believe that Mourinho is really going to sit out an entire season to wait for van Gaal’s time to run its course at United.
The sad truth is that Woodward might just be enough of an idiot to entertain this sort of delusion. It’s clear that he’s overly reliant on the allure and history of Manchester United. That’s why he’s made horrific mistakes in charge such as relying on transfer spending and ignoring the decline of United’s academy system. He simply doesn’t have a realistic view of United’s place in the world of modern football.
Jose Mourinho will not suffer from any such delusions. If anything, he’s the type of man who won’t give enough credence to the tradition and history of a club. Ironically, that’s probably one of the reasons the higher-ups at United aren’t totally sold on bringing him on board. They’re afraid that he won’t pay enough deference and respect to the grandeur and tradition of the gigantic club.
They’re probably right, Mourinho probably wouldn’t do a great job of shaking the legendary player’s hands or asking for their counsel just to make them feel important. Instead, he’d focus all of his energies on building a football team that’s capable of competing for a Premier League title. That’s a trade-off the higher-ups at Manchester United should seriously consider making.
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Mourinho has to have some self respect in these negotiations. He’s made no secret of his desire for the job and he’s used almost every ploy imaginable to push United into making him an offer. If the best they can do is to offer him a spot in charge in 2017, he should tell them to stick that offer where the sun doesn’t shine.