Going, going …

Like him or hate him, Jose Mourinho knows his job as a soccer coach. He doesn’t fail to tell his foes what he has achieved when his teams are tottering. He believes in his tactics. He likes to win the big games to always be in reckoning. But, why does Mourinho like to fish in troubled waters? Why can’t he take his eyes off controversies and allow his tactical savvy count in his teams’ matches? Why does Mourinho insist on having his way when pitched against big stars or key personnel in his teams’ operations?

Or is it that Mourinho talks too much? How could Mourinho be so insensitive to the players’ contributions to the team’s previous matches, irrespective of the fact that a resurging West Ham beat Manchester United at home last weekend with what he told them in Monday’s training session?

“I see sad people. I see people who don’t look like they lost the game. I see so-so. You can be with a very sad face, and you can be a fantastic actor and inside of you, you are very happy. So sometimes what you see is not what you get,” Mourinho said.

Nonsense. Who picked the players for the game, Mourinho? What did you do when things were going awry? Mourinho should stop passing the buck now that the team is tottering in the same way he gets all the accolades when the team shines in matches.

What is clear in Mourinho’s coaching notebook with his European sides is the fact that his third year with them is always troublesome. Mourinho’s list of ‘enemies’ in the third year would have been long enough to consume the Special One. The question to ask is if Mourinho hasn’t noticed this third year hoodoo to cast and bind it out of his resume?

What was Manchester United’s management expecting from Mourinho, whose sojourn is marked with controversies? Why the Old Trafford folk chose Mourinho over  Mauricio Pochettino remains a misery, especially as the Argentine had distinguished himself with Tottenham. Safe for the Special One’s pedigree and feats achieved,  Pochettino was the Red Devils’ best choice, since the team is strictly conservative in outlook, with incredible feats. The club missed it by recruiting Mourinho in 2016 to replace an achieving Louis van Gaal, 48 hours after winning the English FA Cup. Retributive justice? No way; Mourinho won the only trophy not on Manchester United’s boardroom’s shelf – the Europa Cup – two years ago.

Mourinho spends big in the transfer market. He likes the big stars but has failed to tolerate their nuances. Mourinho latches on any opportunity to show that he is the boss. He dislikes legends in clubs like we saw when he confronted Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United. He went for Tito Vilanova’s jugular in one memorable touchline altercation. Of course, who has forgotten how Mounrinho’s sideline brush with Eva Carneiro for tending to Eden Hazard at Chelsea, which landed the Special One in hot water in the courts? Or is Mourinho paying the prize of lampooning Manchester United’s “football heritage”  immediately the team was beaten home and away by Sevilla last season in the UEFA Champions League?

Mourinho likes direct football style. No flair until the game is safe with goals inside the opponents’ nets. Mourinho’s game plan isn’t fancied by those who want to be thrilled during matches, which is what Manchester United’s fans are used to. So, recruiting Mourinho meant tampering with the fan’s patience. Gone is Sir Alex Ferguson’s fascinated display, even though he could also play the Mourinho style.

Old Trafford was the slaughter slab for teams. Today, it has lost that fear factor as teams inflict devastating defeats on the Red Devils to the consternation of the fans. Where did Mourinho get it wrong? Could it be that his counter-attacking option has caught up with him? What does he say to his players at half-time? Mourinho used to make fantastic changes he makes to correct flaws in his

teams’ play? Where has the Midas touch that changed the tempo of games gone?

Could this period be Manchester United’s bad patch which most teams will go through every season? Mourinho complained about the team’s recruitment pattern in the summer. He identified Liverpool FC’s recruitment as one that will keep other title contenders on their toes, even though the Anfield giants have not won the English Premier League (EPL) trophy since the competition began. Who approved the recruitment of players?

Why didn’t Mourinho emulate his Liverpool counterpart, Jurgen Klopp, who sold more players than what he had bought to balance the books? Paul Pogba’s truancy didn’t start today. Mourinho ought to have shipped him out this season, knowing that his market value is high, having won the Russia 2018 World Cup with France. In December, Pogba would have gone for close to £250 million, enough cash to buy eight players who will give their all at £240 million. The eight new players would have improved the team’s quality of play since no one would be sure of his shirt.

Will Pogba send Mourinho out of Manchester United or will the team’s management trade off Pogba in January for peace to reign? As a short term measure on Wednesday, the club’s directors placed a media ban on Pogba, who confirmed this after Tuesday’s pulsating barren draw against Valencia at Old Trafford. ‘‘You want me dead? I’ve been told I’m not allowed.’’ 

With his right to speak inhibited, Pogba took to the social media to reassure fans after Tuesday night’s game. He wrote: ‘‘Let’s keep fighting United. ’’

Mourinho admitted at Tuesday night’s pre-match press conference that: ‘‘The crest on the chest is more important than the name on the back of the shirt.’’ He also told MUTV before kick-off: ‘‘From the supporters I cannot ask any more. I cannot ask for more than they are giving at home. Away, with bad results, I cannot ask for more. I think it’s time for the people on the pitch to show them that they love the club as much as the fans.’’

Having been accused by Scholes of being “out of control’’ with regard to his news conference quotes, Mourinho showed impressive restraint when he faced the media: ‘‘I don’t need to know what he said. He can say what he wants to say. I’m not interested. Freedom of speech. It’s a free country, he can say what he wants. Freedom of speech. Especially Manchester United fans. I respect them 100 per cent. ’’

Will Mourinho survive this onslaught from critics? Looking very unlikely, if one visits Manchester United’s fans’ website where 70 per cent of the voters want the Special One out? Many of them wish that Newcastle upsets Manchester United at home this weekend. It wouldn’t happen because the Magpies are at the bottom of the league table. It would be tragic for the Red Devils, if Mourinho leaves now. Will the players allow Mourinho lose his job? Again, not likely as represented with some of their comments since Thursday.

Asked whose idea it was to form a huddle before kick-off, Fellaini said: ‘Everybody. I think everybody is behind the manager. We have to do our best and do our job. We showed it today but we have to do better (against Newcastle) on Saturday.

‘Everyone is going in the same direction to try to improve and to do better. I think we wanted to show that we are together. I think it was a bad day against West Ham. We were all bad. Today, I think we showed improvement and we have to keep going.

‘It was much better than West Ham. We put in energy and effort, we ran forward, we tried to score the goal. Okay, we didn’t but we have to keep going.’

Fellaini acknowledged the importance of United’s game with Newcastle at Old Trafford this weekend after Mourinho failed to win at home four games in a row for the first time in his career. Mourinho should get over this third year jinx.

Thankfully, Zinedine Zidane called him to dissociate himself from the talk of replacing Mourinho at Old Trafford, stressing that the rumour was at the realm of his managers and that he had told them he wasn’t interested. Interestingly, Zindane seems to prefer a return to Juventus ahead of Manchester United or any other club.

It will be sad if Mourinho exits Manchester United because of a players power game, having been a victim of this disturbing development in club football as Chelsea FC of London’s manager. Pundits have suggested that Mourinho lost the dressing room at Real Madrid to the players’ power, hence he was eased out.

Of course, we haven’t read the last of likely replacements for Mourinho, going by the new story that former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is now being pencilled down for the job. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a deal to scale through, even though United fans will want Conte. Conte is enmeshed in a law suit with Chelsea’s management over alleged wrongful dismissal.

Will this be Mourinho’s last encounter with controversies? Mourinho thrives in controversies. He likes being heard and enjoys tackling his foes frontally. Take controversies out of Mourinho, then you have ‘killed’ him.