- Aug 30, 2010
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Is our current form Mourinho's fault or the players? Boring answer but I think our problem is a combination of the two.
Those who think Mourinho isn't to blame at all must be blind. We've played some of the most bland, risk averse, turgid football in living memory over recent months. If managers like Chris Wilder, Hasenhuttl and Potter can get teams with 1/3 of our collective talent playing some progressive, eye-catching stuff, the very least we should expect from a manager of Mourinho's pedigree is coherent movement and a credible goalthreat against the worst teams in the league. He's had enough time and has enough talent available to do MUCH better than he has done, and fully deserves a big chunk of the blame.
But on the other hand, it's clear our squad has problems. We're weak in defensive midfield and at fullback, our confidence is low, and aside from a few players, the technical ability is surprisingly poor at times for a team that claims to be a one of the 'big 6'. The players should be doing better.
Ultimately, though, I think a manager more suited to the project, while they may have not got a huge amount more points than Mourinho, would at least have far more positive signs and green shoots of hope for the future. If anything, at the moment, we're getting worse week by week.
We need to back Mourinho this summer and support him, but personally I think the writing is on the wall and he's done at this level, except at clubs that can buy him the league.
I think we will back him in the summer, unfortunately. We can't bail out now and have another massive compensation claim. The only way he knows how to solve problems is to chuck wads of money around and he won't be getting that, thank God, but that gives him every excuse he needs to pass the buck. He spent an absolute fortune at MU in no time at all (and then whinged that it wasn't enough) and that's not even addressing stuff like wages for Ibrahimovic and Sanchez. I also think he's done at this level and have seen nothing in his tenure here to change my mind one iota. The sad thing is that we're now stuck with it unless he magically unveils the 'new' Mourinho with his all conquering new style of football (yes, the same one he promised Man Utd.).