The Manchester United manager has always demanded a level of athletic masochism from his players and not everyone at Old Trafford is appreciating it“I do not like talking about injured players,” José Mourinho announced a few months before he left Real Madrid – shortly before going on to talk, rather darkly, about assorted injured players and provide in the process another in a series of similar digressions through the sullen, dying autumn of his time at the Bernabéu.In reality, of course, the opposite is true. Mourinho loves talking about injured players. Or at least he certainly spends a lot of time doing it. Some may see an odd coincidence in Mourinho’s comments about Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling refusing to...
Arsenal’s title hopes are on hold, Tony Pulis is hoping for money in the January transfer window and Loris Karius is keeping Jürgen Klopp happy Related: The Dozen: the weekend's best Premier League photos Continue reading...
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...
Marcus Rashford needs restoring to centre stage, Victor Moses is shining for Chelsea at last and David Moyes should be allowed to rebuild SunderlandThe splurge of title-winning questions after Liverpool’s breathless victory at Selhurst Park provoked a wonderfully enigmatic response from Jürgen Klopp. Can his team conquer the league playing in this wild fashion? “I’ve no idea,” he said. “It’s my first proper season in the Premier League. I have no idea what to do to win the Premier League. I’m pretty sure it was never decided at the end of October. We feel good in the moment, that’s all.” The notion that an experienced manager with 15 years on the job – who won the Bundesliga twice and has...