The Portuguese’s criticism of his players after defeat to Fenerbahce on Thursday provoked memories of his unravelling at both Chelsea and Real MadridJosé Mourinho may have felt he had to give his Manchester United players a very public rollicking following Thursday night’s debacle at Fenerbahce. To get to this point so early in his tenure, though, shows the crisis that threatens to engulf United unless results and performances are turned around quickly.In his 16th competitive fixture, Mourinho oversaw a 2-1 loss in a Europa League group game that was a quasi-disaster of disjointedness that featured his players losing the plot 69 seconds in when Moussa Sow opened the scoring. Related: Fenerbahce’s Simon Kjaer: ‘Zlatan is a chest-puffing kind of player. He’s arrogant’...
Ibrahimovic is failing not only by his own standards but relative to the leading strikers at the top title contenders and José Mourinho may benefit from using Marcus Rashford in the central attacking roleIn an age of single-striker systems Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Premier League goal drought may have already ended Manchester United’s title hopes. This is the stark truth of the one-up-top ploy adopted by those with championship pretensions: the centre-forward has to deliver in most games.Ibrahimovic is not doing so. He last scored in the league five weeks ago and José Mourinho’s side are eight points from the summit after 10 matches. Related: David Squires on … José Mourinho's Manchester hotel woes Continue reading...
The danger with hiring the Portuguese, it was said, is he becomes the story at the expense of your club. That is what seems to be happening at Old TraffordThere is no Premier League rule that forbids managers dismissed from the dugout coming to speak about their treatment afterwards – when Arsène Wenger was so photogenically sent to the Old Trafford stands seven years ago he still made it to the press room at the end of the game – so José Mourinho opting to send his assistant, Rui Faria, in his place suggests the Manchester United manager was probably wary of making a bad situation worse.It is possible that at some point in the immediate aftermath of the goalless...
The podders look back on the EFL Cup events on and off the pitch. Plus: Wolves axe Zenga, and Aston Villa prepare for a second-tier Second City derbySubscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast.Today’s Football Weekly Extra sees AC Jimbo joined by James Horncastle, Barry Glendenning and Jacob Steinberg, who was at the London Stadium to witness the events on and off the pitch following West Ham’s win over Chelsea. Continue reading...
Manchester United’s manager has seemed too conscious of how he is expected to behave in his latest job, to the detriment of his team, but the petulant criticism of Antonio Conte was a sign the fire is returningSir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United took some fearful hidings over the years. “Even in the most successful campaigns, there always seemed to be one match when it went horribly wrong,” wrote Gary Neville in his autobiography, Red. “A nightmare match that reminded you success never comes easily.” Such games would prompt an orgy of schadenfreude around the country.At Ferguson’s United, the only laugh that mattered was the last one: his team won the title in various seasons despite losing 5-0 against Chelsea, 4-1...