Manchester United

[Norbs]

He's just a whining cunt there's nothing clever about him
Conniving maybe

[RichC]

Nothing clever about it he’s self absorbed and has to latch on to some reason as to why he’s not winning.

[fidget]

Been playing poker this afternoon and there were three united fans at my table who i've known for years.
2 are season ticket holders and were desperate for him to **** off and the other is a known idiot who trotted out the normal excuses before being shouted down.
One said to him "well you're bound to like him because you used to support chelsea"

[Rigadon]

"[Spending £300m] is not enough," said Mourinho. "The price for the big clubs is different than for the other clubs. The big historical clubs are normally punished in the market because of that history.

"I know what a big club is. One thing is a big club and another thing is a big football team. They are two different things.

"When you speak about responsibilities to win the Premier League, Tottenham doesn't have that responsibility because they are not a club with the same history as us.

"Arsenal don't have the responsibility to win it. Chelsea don't have the responsibility to win it. When you speak about big football clubs, you are speaking about the history of the club."

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42488421

What a ****ing clown!

I think he's talking bollocks, but that 'you've got no history' chant (during his Chelsea days) obviously got to him

[Roboklopp]

Pretty certain he said the total opposite with regards to us during his first time at the chavs.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

He's a joke at this point.

This difference in money spent doesn't reflect the difference in points, the quality of manager does though! United fans quietly ignoring City recouping more money in the same time.

[Gingawaria]

How long before he starts saying they can't compete with us if we're spending £75m on centre backs?

[Fosterbloke]

I really hope Real spunk some serious money on Kane and De Gea this summer.

[Chris]

Wow, didn't realise De Gea only has 18 months on his contract. He could easily wait that out and get his move to a big club at 28. Hopefully that's what him and Real are planning.

[Fosterbloke]

Another season of that (world class) horse faced cunt between the sticks for them?

[marcus50bucks]

Jose Mourinho sounds like a broken record - if Pep Guardiola was Man Utd manager they would win the title

JAMIE CARRAGHER
29 DECEMBER 2017 • 3:14PM

There is a flaw in Jose Mourinho’s argument that the difference between Manchester United and Manchester City is money.

If Pep Guardiola was in charge of the United squad I believe they would win the title.

Rewind to the start of this season and assess the head-to-head qualities of the United and City squads. Player-for-player, which would you argue was superior?

Was Ederson considered better than David De Gea? Were City’s centre-backs Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones preferable to Eric Bailly and Phil Jones? Did United fans want Fernandinho or Nemanja Matic?

United broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba, and then made Romelu Lukaku the most expensive Premier League player of last summer. Which English clubs made bigger statements of intent?

How many United or England fans would have swapped Marcus Rashford for Raheem Sterling a year ago? And when Anthony Martial first arrived from Monaco, was his reputation greater than that of Leroy Sane when he joined City?

Although he was signed before Mourinho’s appointment, Luke Shaw was a £30 million full-back – more expensive than City striker Gabriel Jesus. The United manager’s complaints about the value of the squads do not add up.

We can go on throughout the respective lists. Where Mourinho sees players unable to execute his tactical blueprint, I believe Guardiola would have taken a different approach with a squad Mourinho believes needs reinforcing.

Even now, it is the United squad that has the most expensive ‘superstars’ – or certainly those with the greater reputation when they joined the club. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pogba and Lukaku delivered elsewhere prior to moving to Old Trafford. Have they improved under Mourinho? That is the troubling question for the United manager. It is starting to sound like he has no patience or will to make what he has better.

City's transfer policy does involve lavish spending, but some fees have often been more eye-catching than the names. Of Guardiola’s signings only Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy – players absent with injury for much of their time in Manchester – arrived as fully-established 'stars' elsewhere.

City are ahead this season because Guardiola has developed players rather than expected ready-made talent to instantly deliver. Mourinho has increasingly come to rely on more experienced, established performers. If you want to evolve a club or a team, you don’t call Mourinho. He is a coach who navigates his way to silverware with teams that have the raw materials – something he has already achieved at United with two trophies in his first season. His reputation as a world-class coach is based on his ability to find a way to win. His legacy will be elevated if he returns to what made him so outstanding during his first spell at Chelsea when guiding players such as John Terry, Frank Lampard – who he inherited and made better - and Didier Drogba who he signed and made world-class after an indifferent first season at Stamford Bridge.

If Mourinho was coaching the Manchester City side they would not be playing the style of football we are seeing today. If there is a symbol of that look no further than Kevin De Bruyne, a player Mourinho coached at Chelsea but then sold.

I have heard all the arguments about how De Bruyne – just like Mo Salah - was not so developed at Chelsea during the Mourinho era, and Chelsea did not suffer given they won the title twice in three years after selling him. But would other managers have discarded such a talent, or would they have found a way to nurture it in the long-term interests of the club? It is hard to believe Guardiola would have managed De Bruyne on a daily basis at a young age and not seen what he might become.

Where Guardiola is delivering in the short-term with an eye on further development, Mourinho is now about the instant hit. Players who may excel in two or three years time do not seem to be of interest as he rarely hangs around at a club to reap the benefits of their progress.

The financial power at City enabled Guardiola to create a team in the image of his great Barcelona side, but many of those he has improved were at the club. De Bruyne was an excellent player before Pep’s appointment. Now he is the best player in the Premier League. David Silva has been revitalised with a change of position in central midfield. Who else would have put him there? Would Fabian Delph or Otamendi be the players they are under Mourinho? Do not forget Guardiola also inherited an ageing squad and had to ship out and replace plenty of players.

The concern for Manchester United is Mourinho is working through his repertoire of gripes. You would normally expect this in year three or four after he has won at least one Premier League title. I’ve always loved hearing Jose’s press conferences – even as a player and rival I wanted to tune in - but I much prefer it when he is being mischievous rather than prickly. When he picks fights with his own players, supporters and board members it becomes a tired act and sounds like he is making excuses. Everyone becomes exhausted by the agitation. Usually, it ends one way.

In the past he might have earned sympathy. Not now. Not at one of the world’s richest clubs when you have outspent most of Europe and the only way to keep up with your greatest rival is to match him on the training pitch and with shrewder management.

That is what separated Sir Alex Ferguson from the rest. For all his success at United when he could bully rivals in the transfer market, it was Ferguson's latter years when Chelsea and City were capable of outspending him that impressed me most. He not only kept United competitive, but ensured they were title winners because of their brand of football. Since Ferguson retired in 2013, United have spent in greater excess than when he was there. They have paid over £600 million on new recruits under David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Mourinho.

This shows the biggest difference between City and United this season is nothing to do with money.

Guardiola is breaking records. Mourinho is starting to sound like a broken one.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/12/29/jose-mourinho-sounds-like-broken-record-pep-guardiola-man/

Carragher's absolutely nailed it.

[RichC]

Brilliant article and sums it up really well

[Tatterdemalion]

Carragher's absolutely nailed it.

'cept for this bit "City are ahead this season because Guardiola has developed players rather than expected ready-made talent to instantly deliver"

Still think Guardiola is something of a cheque book manager. Would love to see him, one he's been through the richest clubs in the world, take a role where he can't just spend hundreds of millions on a few full backs.

[Norbs]

'cept for this bit "City are ahead this season because Guardiola has developed players rather than expected ready-made talent to instantly deliver"

Still think Guardiola is something of a cheque book manager. Would love to see him, one he's been through the richest clubs in the world, take a role where he can't just spend hundreds of millions on a few full backs.

Yeah but that would show a lack of ambition on his part

[Exiled_red]

'cept for this bit "City are ahead this season because Guardiola has developed players rather than expected ready-made talent to instantly deliver"

Still think Guardiola is something of a cheque book manager. Would love to see him, one he's been through the richest clubs in the world, take a role where he can't just spend hundreds of millions on a few full backs.

Yeah he has bought young players but they were still highly rated, Stones had 3 years PL experience with Everton, was clearly a good player who was going to get better, you don't spend £50m as a punt on someone that you don't know if they're going to make it or not (or at least you didn't a couple of years ago), similar story with Sane as well IMO.

I get the point that Guardiola is buying players who will get better where as Mourinho signs players who are at their peak, but Guardiola is not exactly discovering unknown players and turning them into stars.