Manchester United 2015/2016: The Most Exciting Team in the League

Cool story, bro.

The special one is on his way per BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36351371

"Manchester United will appoint Jose Mourinho as their new manager, BBC Sport understands.

Mourinho has been out of work since he was sacked by Chelsea in December.

With United failing to qualify for the Champions League under Louis van Gaal, the Old Trafford hierarchy is thought to have decided a change is required.

It is understood a deal with 53-year-old Mourinho was agreed in principle before United's FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace on Saturday"

LVG didn't seem like a man who knew he was definitively out of a job after the match.

Pretty classless way to handle this situation. Let the man enjoy his cup for a day at least. And don't let him find out about a sacking through the media.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:

LVG didn't seem like a man who knew he was definitively out of a job after the match.

Pretty classless way to handle this situation. Let the man enjoy his cup for a day at least. And don't let him find out about a sacking through the media.

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I read a couple of reports that he was told Wednesday.

This seems like the worst possible moment to hire Mourinho. They'll ship out all the promising academy products and spend £300 million on Mendes clients only to have their asses kicked by Guardiola's City for two years followed by the inevitable 3rd year Mourinho implosion.

I'm sure United fans won't care about any of that as long as they get the exciting attacking style of football that Jose is known for.

I'm more a fan of Mourinho than I am of United but I have to think this latest spell off has been a wake up call. He doesn't want to leave England. His family is embedded in the country now. His relationship with Sir Alex has been well documented. The players that buy in to Jose will run through walls for the man. If Zlatan isn't in a United shirt by the start of camp it would be a miracle in my eyes. People say he's always shipped out youth and gone for the short term, but take a look at the owners and boards he's worked for. Roman, Madrid aren't waiting for you to develop youth. You win now, multiple pieces of silverware or you're shown the door. Maybe it'll be more of the same. Jose seems the type who want's to settle down at his age. Or maybe it's me hoping he does. United seems the perfect fit though if that's what he's looking to do. I could see him at Old Trafford for a long time if he brings his antics in the press down a notch. He'll bring back a far more interesting brand of football for the fans at the least. And if it's 3 and out I have to think they will at the least be contenders. Where this leaves Giggs is beyond me. I'm of the opinion he need's to go out and actually run a club before being handed the reigns at United any how.

I think Jose gets typecast as the park the bus guy because he has used that successfully in a few higher profile games and because he doesn't follow the "possession" orthodoxy. I think he's got some great tools in place to make United a scary counter attacking side.

Dummy Hoy said:

I think Jose gets typecast as the park the bus guy because he has used that successfully in a few higher profile games and because he doesn't follow the "possession" orthodoxy. I think he's got some great tools in place to make United a scary counter attacking side.

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The "park the bus" thing is very much a typecast. Sure it helps in Europe at times. And he's been known to do it to secure a result. But those same teams have been lethal on counter attacks. Real under Jose could counter like few teams I have ever seen. He expects defensive responsibility, and to his credit really knows how to organize a defense. But if he has the players capable he will play attacking football.


I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Rashford making an impact next year under Jose. While I think he will be given great power inside the club, the board must realize by now what the supporters expect. I think anything less than bringing in some home grown talent to the first team and playing some positive attacking football won't be tolerated given his track record.

Zomp said:

But has he ever left a club better off than when he came in? I don't think so. Either way it will be entertaining.

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Chelsea the first time. He built a good enough team that they could win on autopilot. They nearly won the Champions League with Avram Grant as manager (last seen in England getting West Ham relegated).

Porto probably would have been better off if they'd been able to keep any of their top players. But they sold them for big money (a couple went to Mourinho's Chelsea).

Jettisoned said:

This seems like the worst possible moment to hire Mourinho. They'll ship out all the promising academy products and spend £300 million on Mendes clients only to have their asses kicked by Guardiola's City for two years followed by the inevitable 3rd year Mourinho implosion.

I'm sure United fans won't care about any of that as long as they get the exciting attacking style of football that Jose is known for.

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I like the cut of your jib. Can I subscribe to your newsletter?

Regardless of how you feel about Mourinhos potential for success at United, which I think is low for team composition reasons, I'm amazed by that teams ability to still attract top names. Logic says that a team that has been out of CL for years with massive debt shouldn't be able to bring in stars. Which was more or less starting to happen. But now they get to save themselves at least temporarily with Jose.

teddykgb said:

I like the cut of your jib. Can I subscribe to your newsletter?

Regardless of how you feel about Mourinhos potential for success at United, which I think is low for team composition reasons, I'm amazed by that teams ability to still attract top names. Logic says that a team that has been out of CL for years with massive debt shouldn't be able to bring in stars. Which was more or less starting to happen. But now they get to save themselves at least temporarily with Jose.

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At the end of the day, money and wages are still king. How did a club like City manage to bring in the likes of Yaya? By offering him a shitload of money.

United's debt problems are not that meaningful. Despite their struggles on the pitch in the last few years, they have become a money printing machine. I think they'll still lose out recruiting players when going directly head-to-head with the few clubs that can match them on wages (City, Barca, Real, PSG). But the wages they can offer everybody will still be a huge draw. By many accounts, they're about to sign Ibra (which I have some serious doubts about but thats another matter), largely because they're the only club that both wants him and can afford to pay him. Di Maria was basically the same story, as was Falcao.

NHbeau said:

I'm more a fan of Mourinho than I am of United but I have to think this latest spell off has been a wake up call. He doesn't want to leave England. His family is embedded in the country now. His relationship with Sir Alex has been well documented. The players that buy in to Jose will run through walls for the man. If Zlatan isn't in a United shirt by the start of camp it would be a miracle in my eyes. People say he's always shipped out youth and gone for the short term, but take a look at the owners and boards he's worked for. Roman, Madrid aren't waiting for you to develop youth. You win now, multiple pieces of silverware or you're shown the door. Maybe it'll be more of the same. Jose seems the type who want's to settle down at his age. Or maybe it's me hoping he does. United seems the perfect fit though if that's what he's looking to do. I could see him at Old Trafford for a long time if he brings his antics in the press down a notch. He'll bring back a far more interesting brand of football for the fans at the least. And if it's 3 and out I have to think they will at the least be contenders. Where this leaves Giggs is beyond me. I'm of the opinion he need's to go out and actually run a club before being handed the reigns at United any how.

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With Mourinho you take the good and the bad together. He'll give United a real shot at reclaiming the league, and perhaps even going deep into the CL knockouts, in the next 2-3 years. That alone makes him a worthwhile gamble given the last three years and the need for United to reassert itself as one of the world's biggest clubs. But expecting Jose to have heard a "wake up call" and wanting to "settle down" is a pipe dream. The man thrives on conflict and controversy, quite possibly has some variation of narcissistic personality disorder, and simply cannot handle failure without lashing out and blaming others.

Jose has also never been surrounded by more flashpoints for setting him off. Guardiola, his greatest rival, will be in the same city. Wenger will be in London. I'm sure the rivalry with Chelsea will be intense. And then you've got Liverpool and the inevitability of two strong personalities like Mourinho and Klopp eventually getting into it. Add to all that the obvious fact that numerous key people at United, including Sir Bobby but likely also Ferguson himself, are not huge fans of Mourinho and opposed his appointment. There is no way this ends in Mourinho "settling down" and calmly guiding United for 7-8 years. If anything, we're in for some serious fireworks. It will not be boring, that's for sure.

I think rebuilding United will also be his toughest job yet. The Chelsea he took over in 04-05 was a second place team. He changed them quite a bit, but there was a lot to work with there. Inter were already Italian champions and a dominant club domestically. He made them into European champions but that was a great veteran team. Madrid had a ton of key pieces in place and had only been three points worse than Barcelona in the season before Jose arrived. Even Chelsea on the second go round was coming off a 3rd place finish with the second best goal differential in the league - Mourinho effectively added only four key players over two years, Willian, Matic, Fabregas, and Costa. United are going to be a much bigger challenge in my view. I think Martial, Shaw, Smalling, and De Gea are the only players nailed on to be starters by the second year of Jose's reign, and De Gea might have left for Madrid by that point anyway. He is also taking over a team that for the last two years has been drilled in a philosophy that is pretty antithetical to Jose's own beliefs about football, which are all about possession in settled situations being largely useless and often more dangerous for the team with the ball than the team without it. He will have a lot of work to do in turning the current squad into a team geared toward playing his style of combative counter-attacking football.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:

At the end of the day, money and wages are still king. How did a club like City manage to bring in the likes of Yaya? By offering him a shitload of money.

United's debt problems are not that meaningful. Despite their struggles on the pitch in the last few years, they have become a money printing machine. I think they'll still lose out recruiting players when going directly head-to-head with the few clubs that can match them on wages (City, Barca, Real, PSG). But the wages they can offer everybody will still be a huge draw. By many accounts, they're about to sign Ibra (which I have some serious doubts about but thats another matter), largely because they're the only club that both wants him and can afford to pay him. Di Maria was basically the same story, as was Falcao.

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Oh I know, and I know the debt isn't overly meaningful because of the income. There was just such justice watching clubs like Liverpool and United get squeezed out by the very FFP rules they worked so hard to implement. Only both of them have more or less gotten a stay of execution through big name managerial hires. If Liverpool hadn't gotten Klopp is there any doubt that there'd be 0 discussion of a player like Gotze going there? I struggle to say the same about Zlatan and United because they really have been the home of misfit toys the last few seasons and have at least paid their way to get someone every year, even if it ended up not working out. You look at where this United team was under Moyes and things could have gotten really, really ugly. If De Gea had been sold they still might have gotten there under LVG. Only now they somehow managed to get Mourinho to rock up there and he'll use his Mendes connection to route a bunch of better players through OT who would otherwise never go there, offering them hope when they otherwise would have had very little. You can always get a player like Yaya with money but it tends to be hard to get a bunch of players that way, as the last few seasons at OT have shown.

The rebuild at United will be interesting to watch as you note. There are some talented players there but I'm not sure how many are Jose players. Schneiderlin obviously should thrive. You have to imagine Mata is less than enthused. A player like Martial will not be impacted but if they bring in some names to replace some of the youth they had almost started to develop that might not be the best options long term. To me, I just don't see the back line necessary to play Mourinho football and CBs are very hard to come by in the market these days. As you said, it should be a blast. Finding a spot for Rooney alone should bring great amusement.

Rooney runs out of energy very quickly playing as a striker now, but he looked half decent as an attacking midfielder near the end of the season.

Is there any chance Mourinho makes regular use of Daley Blind in midfield? There's obviously no chance whatsoever that Jose plays him at CB next year, but I think Blind and Schneiderlin would complement each other nicely as DM's.

Ah, that's kind of sad for me as I've enjoyed following Blind's career since the 2014 WC.

What I'd really like to see is the purchase of some quality for the right side for use in league competition, and heavy use of the kids (Rashford, Lingard, Borthwick-Jackson, Fosu-Mensah, Depay) in Europa League matches.

coremiller said:

Chelsea the first time. He built a good enough team that they could win on autopilot. They nearly won the Champions League with Avram Grant as manager (last seen in England getting West Ham relegated).

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Don't forget, that team was a Champions League semifinalist and finished 2nd in the league under Ranieri the year before Jose got there. Not to take away from the job he did winning the league, but they were on the verge of a big breakthrough with or without him.

SoxFanInCali said:

Don't forget, that team was a Champions League semifinalist and finished 2nd in the league under Ranieri the year before Jose got there. Not to take away from the job he did winning the league, but they were on the verge of a big breakthrough with or without him.

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He took over a good side, but Mourinho turned over nearly the entire squad about as quickly as he could. He replaced at least half of the key players on the 03-04 team immediately: Bridge, Gronkjear, Hasselbaink, Mutu, Geremi, Melchiot, and Cudicini all started at least half the league games in 03-04 and were in the top 11 in league starts, and all were either immediately sold or demoted by Mourinho. By 06/07, Lampard, Terry, and Makelele (in his last season) were the only remaining starters from the pre-Mourinho era (Bridge, Geremi, and Joe Cole were still hanging around as squad players). The team that nearly won the CL in 2008 and won the PL in 2010 was mostly comprised of players Mourinho brought in.

Can someone explain to me how replacing Van Gaal's "pragmatism" with Mourinho's "What We Have We Hold" style will make Man Utd any better to watch?

I really don't understand why Van Gaal was sacked for his "style of play" sack him for not getting United into the Champions League, or being a whingebag with the press, by all means, but sack him for his "style", then take Mourinho? That really is swapping apples and getting back apples.

Having read a few articles, there's nothing categorically stated, but there's an implication that in going after Jose, the two knights, Alex and Bobby would have to give their blessing and that Jose will have been briefed that there is a need to go back to the 'Man U' way of playing attacking football, creating lots of chances and scoring goals.

Man U scored 49 league goals this season. Their lowest in a long time. They had the most backwards passes in the league too. It's been mentioned upthread that Jose has had several high scoring teams. (Although the figures for Madrid are reflect the superiority over the opposition, enjoyed by both Barca and Madrid). Anyway the year he last won the title with Chelsea, he got the best out of Hazard and Fabregas; Chelsea played a lot of good football.

Mou is a pragmatist for sure but his reputation as master of the snoozefest is highly overrated. He has produced several great counter attacking sides and as Fletch mentions (and has indeed been mentioned before), he's very capable of running squads that score goals by the bucket. I think we'll see better football than we did under Van Gaal.

My biggest concerns would be that his obsession with Pep affect his game plans against City, and his burnout rate, although not many managers last much more than 3 years anyways.

I think the dissonance here is that Mou is a countering specialist of sorts, and MANU pride themselves on taking the game to their opposition, like Barca, Madrid (non-Mou editions), etc. LVG produced a stout defense and a disjointed offense (especially this season). I assume the hope here is that Mou can keep the D solid, but improve the attack and general cohesiveness of the side and eschew total football. That being said, I feel like LVG did a good job of reestablishing a foundation post-Moyes (reduced goals against in two successive seasons). I don't want to overstate the job he did because MANU is nowhere close to where they should be (modern SAF sides put in 70-80 goals/season), but much of that is due to the dearth of talent on the squad.

Thanks for the replies folks.

One more question, if Rashford and Lindgaard go onto great things, as most "experts" I've read seem to expect, will Van Gaal get the credit he deserves for giving them a chance? Maybe in a few years, his reign won't be looked at so badly, if the players he brought in/blooded turn out to be "Stars", right?

NHbeau said:

I'm more a fan of Mourinho than I am of United but I have to think this latest spell off has been a wake up call. He doesn't want to leave England. His family is embedded in the country now. His relationship with Sir Alex has been well documented. The players that buy in to Jose will run through walls for the man. If Zlatan isn't in a United shirt by the start of camp it would be a miracle in my eyes. People say he's always shipped out youth and gone for the short term, but take a look at the owners and boards he's worked for. Roman, Madrid aren't waiting for you to develop youth. You win now, multiple pieces of silverware or you're shown the door. Maybe it'll be more of the same. Jose seems the type who want's to settle down at his age. Or maybe it's me hoping he does. United seems the perfect fit though if that's what he's looking to do. I could see him at Old Trafford for a long time if he brings his antics in the press down a notch. He'll bring back a far more interesting brand of football for the fans at the least. And if it's 3 and out I have to think they will at the least be contenders. Where this leaves Giggs is beyond me. I'm of the opinion he need's to go out and actually run a club before being handed the reigns at United any how.

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In Spring semester 1993, I wrote a term paper about Rupert Murdoch for a class about journalism's role in society. After laying out all the ways he'd laid waste to journalism, first in Australia, then on Fleet Street, and then with the New York Post, I concluded on an upbeat note. I wrote about how I hoped he would see that journalism played an important role in public life, that it was more than a way to make money off sensationalism, and that Murdoch could see the benefits he could provide society. I got an A on the paper, but the professor wrote "I DOUBT IT" in red ink at the bottom of the page, and three years later he was proved right when Murdoch started Fox News Channel.

All of this is to say that I know wishcasting from personal experience. And you've got a lot of it going on in this post.

DLew On Roids said:

In Spring semester 1993, I wrote a term paper about Rupert Murdoch for a class about journalism's role in society. After laying out all the ways he'd laid waste to journalism, first in Australia, then on Fleet Street, and then with the New York Post, I concluded on an upbeat note. I wrote about how I hoped he would see that journalism played an important role in public life, that it was more than a way to make money off sensationalism, and that Murdoch could see the benefits he could provide society. I got an A on the paper, but the professor wrote "I DOUBT IT" in red ink at the bottom of the page, and three years later he was proved right when Murdoch started Fox News Channel.

All of this is to say that I know wishcasting from personal experience. And you've got a lot of it going on in this post.

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He's almost literally laying out a defense for why the scorpion won't sting.

DLew On Roids said:

In Spring semester 1993, I wrote a term paper about Rupert Murdoch for a class about journalism's role in society. After laying out all the ways he'd laid waste to journalism, first in Australia, then on Fleet Street, and then with the New York Post, I concluded on an upbeat note. I wrote about how I hoped he would see that journalism played an important role in public life, that it was more than a way to make money off sensationalism, and that Murdoch could see the benefits he could provide society. I got an A on the paper, but the professor wrote "I DOUBT IT" in red ink at the bottom of the page, and three years later he was proved right when Murdoch started Fox News Channel.

All of this is to say that I know wishcasting from personal experience. And you've got a lot of it going on in this post.

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You mean a lot by the line "he seems the type to want to settle down". Right? Which I followed by me stating maybe it's me hoping he does. Thanks for letting me know what I admitted was a "hope" might not come true. Any other words of wisdom? Christ.

You seem like a sensitive sort. Did you get a lot of participation trophies as a child?

A little presumptive maybe, seeing as he hasn't signed yet, but it's being reported that one of the stumbling blocks for Jose is...image rights. That's right...Chelsea hold the intellectual property rights on his name and have done since 2005. Doesn't this just say everything about football in the current age?

Here's a link to the Jose Mourinho products that Chelsea own the rights to. Now then, I need to get rid of the horrible taste I have from coming into this forum...where did I leave my Jose Mourinho non-medicated mouth wash?

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU004365755

cjdmadcow said:

A little presumptive maybe, seeing as he hasn't signed yet, but it's being reported that one of the stumbling blocks for Jose is...image rights. That's right...Chelsea hold the intellectual property rights on his name and have done since 2005. Doesn't this just say everything about football in the current age?

Here's a link to the Jose Mourinho products that Chelsea own the rights to. Now then, I need to get rid of the horrible taste I have from coming into this forum...where did I leave my Jose Mourinho non-medicated mouth wash?

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU004365755

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Joe Mourin-Ho? Never heard of the guy.

cjdmadcow said:

Doesn't this just say everything about football in the current age?

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If I don't see a Chelsea or ManU crest while Jose tries to sell me on a shaving gel, why would I want to buy it?

cjdmadcow said:

A little presumptive maybe, seeing as he hasn't signed yet, but it's being reported that one of the stumbling blocks for Jose is...image rights. That's right...Chelsea hold the intellectual property rights on his name and have done since 2005. Doesn't this just say everything about football in the current age?

Here's a link to the Jose Mourinho products that Chelsea own the rights to. Now then, I need to get rid of the horrible taste I have from coming into this forum...where did I leave my Jose Mourinho non-medicated mouth wash?

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU004365755

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This special day has finally arrived.

Despite my dislike of the man, he's a great manager for MANU. He understands the gravitas of managing at a superclub and he will get the Devils performing right away. Will be interesting to see what tack MANU takes this summer with signings.

Liverpool's defense in that match was Brad Jones, Glen Johnson, Andre Wisdom, Martin Skrtel, and Jose Enrique. Oof.

De Geaters gonna... Rape?

De Gea accused of arranging sexual assault along with Bilbao player and others

ZLATAN!!

http://www.espnfc.us/story/2893192/zlatan-ibrahimovic-agrees-terms-on-man-united-move-sources

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has agreed to provisional terms with Manchester United and will complete his move to Old Trafford after Euro 2016, sources close to the deal have told ESPN FC.

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Zomp hasn't yet started the 16-17 thread, so these go here.

Um, what the hell, ManU Marketing Department?

As said elsewhere, was the Blind joke really so good they had to use it twice?

And why the hell is Rooney in his uniform in the ID4 one?

EDIT: There's a John Terry joke to be made about full kit, but I couldn't pull it off.