Red Devils 2018-19

[yinyang]

Sunday November 18 2018

Man Utd double Pellegrini salary

Manchester United are ready to double Lorenzo Pellegrini’s salary, so Roma desperately try to remove the €30m release clause.

Jose Mourinho has set his sights firmly on the Italy international and wants a January swoop for the midfielder.
According to the Corriere dello Sport, a meeting in London between agent Giacomo Pocetta and Manchester United directors on Saturday saw a huge proposal put forward.

Not only would the Premier League giants be prepared to pay the €30m release clause in his contract, but also double his current salary of €1m per year until June 2022.

Director of sport Monchi does not want to lose another talent in midfield, having already sold Radja Nainggolan to Inter and Kevin Strootman to Olympique Marseille this summer.
Instead, he is entering intensive negotiations to discuss a new contract, one that would remove the €30m release clause, or at the very least increase it significantly.

 

[yinyang]

Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba in post-match bust-up after Manchester United's draw with struggling Southampton
The Portuguese criticised the club's record signing in front of his teammates, accusing him of disrespecting those around him

Jose Mourinho gave Paul Pogba a dressing-down in front of the rest of the Manchester United squad, questioning the midfielder's commitment to the team after the Red Devils slipped up yet again to draw with struggling Southampton, The Independent understands.
United recovered from 2-0 down at St Mary's to snatch a pointbut they remain some 16 points behind crosstown rivals Manchester City approaching the halfway point of the season.

Pogba was keen to leave the club earlier this year after feeling Mourinho wasn't making the best of his abilities and he publicly criticised the manager's playing style. In return, the World Cup winner was stripped of the vice-captaincy that Mourinho had handed him and banned from speaking to the press in the post-match mixed zones.
lamented the lack of 'mad dogs' in his team after the disappointing result on the south coast and then set about criticising his best-paid player in rabid fashion, sources have told The Independent. The Portuguese criticised not just Pogba's performances but his commitment, suggesting the midfielder didn't care about his colleagues.

Pogba's display on Saturday was undeniably sloppy and as well as receiving some heat from Mourinho he came under fire from pundits on BT Sport's live coverage of the game as well as BBC's Match of the Day highlights show on Saturday night. The France midfielder was played in a more advanced role than usual but seemed off the pace as United were eventually bailed out by Marcus Rashford.

Mourinho, however, chose to make an example of Pogba in front of the entire United squad, all to a backdrop of near silence at St Mary's.

United were poor against Southampton on Saturday

Pogba's attitude and display against Southampton is seen as the latest in a pattern of behaviour that is cause for concern at a club that invested a record fee and enormous wages in him. The Frenchman's off-field activities are increasingly coming under the microscope and it is suspected that the 25-year-old midfielder's behaviour is being driven by his agent, Mino Raiola.

While the United hierarchy have been firm in their stance that they do not want to sell their biggest-ever buy, the worsening relationship between star player and manager is a concern. Raiola, it would appear, is gambling on the club pushing out Mourinho over Pogba as results and the general feeling around the team continue to deteriorate.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...a-manchester-united-southampton-a8663446.html

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

Have Man Utd fans accepted B-List status?

Does the response to the draw with Arsenal show how far their ambition has slipped?

Manchester United's hopes and ambitions have slipped so alarmingly this season that a routine show of grit that left them eighth in the Premier League drew warm applause from Old Trafford at its conclusion.

Jose Mourinho's side battled back twice to earn a point in an eventful, if scrappy, 2-2 draw against Arsenal - but was the sanguine reaction at the final whistle acceptance this is now as good as it gets under the current regime?

United are eight points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, 18 behind leaders Manchester City, and are the only team in the Premier League's top nine with a minus goal difference.

They have taken only three points from their past four games, including draws with strugglers Crystal Palace and Southampton.
And while this was a performance that contained many admirable qualities when measured in grit and character, it showed no signs of being the early stage of development into a team that could claim the big prizes.
It still, however, drew a relatively satisfied response from a remarkably patient United fanbase, who would previously have accepted what they saw as the basic starting point not the major plus.

Mourinho's apparent confusion over his best team meant seven alterations to his starting line-up from Saturday's 2-2 draw at Southampton took the number of changes in the Premier League this season to 46.
And credit must be given to the likes of Eric Bailly, who performed well, and fellow defender Diogo Dalot, who confirmed his promise. Mourinho was right to praise them.
But the brutal truth is, while Mourinho's men were unquestionably fired up and there were flashes of former United and Arsenal clashes with the sight of flying footwear and prostrate bodies that would have been appreciated by heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury - who watched from the directors' box, this was a night that will not linger long in the memory.

Painfully for United and Mourinho, he seems to now accept the obvious inferiority to Manchester City. This is even before he contemplates Liverpool's clear superiority.
He said: "In the last four matches, we didn't lose. Bad results? Yes - but four matches we didn't lose. Before we lost against Manchester City, everybody loses."

If not exactly defeatist talk, it is certainly the language of a manager having to lower his sights as never before.
And judging by the apparent satisfaction with a share of the spoils from an uninspiring display, many United supporters have joined

Mourinho frustrated by Man Utd mistakes but praises spirit

Where is Man Utd's quality?
Mourinho made two huge selection calls in leaving out his biggest signings - Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku.
He wrote in his programme notes: "There isn't space for people who are not ready to give their all."
There is no suggestion he specifically meant these two players, who cost £89m and £75m respectively, but the message had been sent.
It was a brave call by a manager who knew his strategy was high-risk, especially had United lost, although it was hardly a glorious advert for the success of his major purposes.
Pogba is simply too erratic while Lukaku cuts a bulky, muscular figure seemingly robbed of the explosive qualities that were his trademark.
Even goalkeeper David de Gea is having an erratic season by his standards, having to redeem himself with several fine saves after an awful attempt to deal with Shkodran Mustafi's tame header for Arsenal's first goal.
What was not in doubt was the commitment of United's players. They were, despite all the noise swirling around Mourinho, playing for their manager.

No-one can doubt the honesty and character. Those who forged a draw against a team unbeaten in 20 matches gave their all.
The problem in the wider context is this United squad is nowhere near good enough when measured against the best.
United's attack has fluidity in Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, but this is a stodgy side producing stodgy performances.

The fact this was regarded as a reasonable improvement on recent offerings, despite another draw, is a commentary on United's season so far.

How long will patience last?
Every game carries high stakes for United and Mourinho now - but there are no signs of uprising among the fans.
The team cannot afford to falter against struggling Fulham at Old Trafford on Saturday, but they can at least travel to Valencia for their final Champions League group game with qualification for the knockout phase assured.
It is then that Mourinho faces what amounts to the acid test when he visits a familiar proving ground - the Anfield home of long-time adversaries Liverpool on 16 December.
If he can somehow fashion a result there against a side unbeaten in the league this season, it might maintain some of the old belief in Mourinho's powers. A defeat might just test the patience he is being shown.
But, for now, Mourinho and United's supporters appear to have reluctantly accepted their 'B-List' status.

 

[yinyang]

JOSE NO MOUR Manchester United want to land Mauricio Pochettino but it will cost them £40m to get the Spurs boss
Red Devils won't have to pay out much compensation if Jose Mourinho misses out on top four and Old Trafford chiefs are desperate to land Pochettino as his replacement
EXCLUSIVE
By Neil Ashton
6th December 2018, 10:00 pm
MANCHESTER UNITED are prepared to fork out up to £40million to make Mauricio Pochettino their next boss.

The Old Trafford hierarchy have decided the Tottenham boss is the ONLY contender to replace Jose Mourinho next summer.

And a clause in Mourinho’s contract means it will cost United less to sack the Portuguese if they are not in the Champions League.

United face a battle with Real Madrid over Poch, 46. But, despite the current turmoil, they believe they can sell the Red Devils as the more attractive proposition.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who sold Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to United on his watch, faces a huge battle to keep his manager.

Poch is determined to lead Spurs into their new stadium in the new year and signed a five-year, £8m-a-season deal only last summer

 

[yinyang]

Man Utd may be forced into Zinedine Zidane appointment because of what Ed Woodward craves

MANCHESTER UNITED chief Ed Woodward wants Mauricio Pochettino to replace Jose Mourinho. So that means they may end up with Zinedine Zidane instead.
By JACK OTWAY
PUBLISHED: 13:50, Fri, Dec 7, 2018UPDATED: 15:32, Fri, Dec 7, 2018

Manchester United are a club in crisis and, though the money continues to pour in, improvements on the pitch are few and far between.

The Red Devils are no longer themselves. Gone are the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, with the Scot’s empire in ruins just five years on from his retirement.

A lot has changed throughout that time. David Moyes was the Chosen One. Louis van Gaal, the Convenient One. In Mourinho, they thought they had the Special One.

But there is nothing special about the club now. The players, social-media privy, lack motivation. Jose Mourinho himself was compared to a DEMENTOR in midweek by a member of a United fanzine. Woodward’s name is often booed at Old Trafford.

Which means Zidane will come in, right?

Woodward wants Pochettino
Woodward craves Pochettino and feels United can return to their perch under the Argentine.

He is seen as a man capable of stamping his authority and stopping players heading abroad whenever they please.

Pochettino is also viewed as Ferguson-esque material because of the entertaining way his Tottenham side plays.

So highly does Woodward rate the Spurs boss, he has supposedly made him his only candidate to replace the struggling Mourinho.

Which means they’re destined for Zidane because of Woodward's hit rate.

Woodward does not always deliver
United never seem to have any plan B nowadays, unless it involves sticking Marouane Fellaini up top. The last five years back that up.

There was no plan B when Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all snubbed moves to Old Trafford in 2013.

Under Van Gaal, there was no back-up operation either when the club desperately needed a new striker. Anthony Martial came in but, given Javier Hernandez, Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie jumped ship, the Red Devils clearly needed more.

Just this summer, Mourinho tried to sign Toby Alderweireld and Harry Maguire. Diego Godin, Jerome Boateng and Yerry Mina were pursued too.

But nobody came in. Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant were steady signings. They were not an upgrade, however, on anything the club already had

Credit where credit is due
Woodward does not always fail. Sometimes, the United supremo can pull off the spectacular.

Paul Pogba looked destined to join Real Madrid or Juventus two years ago but went to Old Trafford instead. Inconsistent though he has been, that was a signing worthy of the rap video and the viral celebrations.

Romelu Lukaku was another A-list signing. Chelsea were in pole position to sign him. Then the Red Devils came along.

The same can be said for Alexis Sanchez and Fred, who both looked Manchester City-bound. Every now and then, a miracle occurs.

Why Zidane may take over
But Woodward has more failings to his name than successes. Obviously, commercial deals aside.
United will sack Mourinho should they finish outside the top four, that much is clear. They are a sinking ship but they do not tolerate drowning, particularly when their fiercest rivals shine around them.
But Pochettino is a tough buy. Tottenham will probably finish higher than United and, if he stays put at the new stadium in north London, Zidane is the most obvious choice to take over and replace Mourinho.
Woodward cannot always satisfy his cravings. And because of him always aiming the bar so high, it means they may have to settle for a Plan B in Zidane instead.
They can’t go without a manager. Mourinho, it seems for now at least, is a dead man walking. And Zidane is the only Galactico they would likely to turn to.

 

[Robert Half]

Man United should be able to beat Fulham by bigger margin since the EPL weakest club is playing at Old Trafford.

Manchester United big win is due ...

 

[yinyang]

Man United should be able to beat Fulham by bigger margin since the EPL weakest club is playing at Old Trafford.

Manchester United big win is due ...

Yo, on paper. More so at home. We take solace, been a lousy season languishing at uncharted territory in table.

 

[Robert Half]

Yo, on paper. More so at home. We take solace, been a lousy season languishing at uncharted territory in table.

Just a 4-1 win over bottom club Fulham.. below expectations

 

[yinyang]

Jose Mourinho's last stand
Deliberate isolation. Petty feuds. Constant turmoil.
The Manchester United manager wouldn't have it any other way.
By Sam Borden
08 Dec 2018 06:26AM (Updated: 08 Dec 2018 06:30AM)

Jose Mourinho is alone.
It is a late Tuesday afternoon in September. Mourinho is sitting on a fabric-covered bench by the window on the third floor of the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, England.

His coaches are off gathering bags and binders. His players are collecting their toiletry kits.
A floor below him, the bar has a decent pre-dinner crowd with a festive energy. (Happy Birthday, Maureen!) Outside, the Manchester United bus idles beside a few dozen fans hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous.

Mourinho waits. He always appears tiny next to his players (he prefers the tallest he can find), but even on his own, left leg crossed over right and hands at the back of an ever-graying head of close-cropped hair, Mourinho's 5-foot-9 frame is wiry - a popsicle stick in track-suit bottoms.
A rent-a-cop stands by the elevator. A hotel guest gets off, clearly having pressed the wrong button, and the rent-a-cop puts out a meaty hand.

The guest looks up and immediately recognises Mourinho. He calls out, "Give 'em hell, Jose!" (he pronounces it "Jo-zay") and grins. Mourinho's expression is like he just tasted questionable milk.
He does not move. He is not looking at his phone. He is not reviewing papers. He is sitting by himself, staring at nothing.
The elevator opens again. Three Manchester United staffers emerge. It is time. Mourinho still doesn't move.
There is a beat or two or three (or four). The staffers shuffle awkwardly. Finally, Mourinho stands up. He does not apologise for the weirdness or for spacing out. He just looks at them and then leads the way down to the bus.

There is another game tonight. Another game, another show, another real-time referendum on the carnival that is one of the greatest (and most polarising) managers in football's history leading one of the world's grandest (and most polarising) clubs into near-daily chaos.
His US$385 million team is in sixth place, has already lost to Brighton and Tottenham, and before Thanksgiving, knows it has almost no chance to win the Premier League title. (They'd go on to lose to West Ham as well.)

This is Mourinho's life now. He takes a seat at the front of the bus on the right side. The seat next to him is empty.
A short time later at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams, the stadium where Manchester United celebrates its 20 league titles and 12 FA Cups, Mourinho watches his players score an early goal in a League Cup match against second-division Derby County.
He watches his former player, Frank Lampard, now managing Derby, lead the underdog visitors back level and then, stunningly, in front by a goal. When Manchester United scores an unlikely tying goal in second-half stoppage time, Mourinho gives a single fist pump from the sideline.
During the ensuing shootout, Lampard stands arm-in-arm with his coaches and players; they endure the pressure together. Mourinho stands behind his team, unaccompanied, pacing and frequently looking away from the goal where the kicks are being taken.
Derby wins. The plucky underdogs slay the giant. The Manchester United fans boo (again). Mourinho does a terse TV interview (again). Mourinho makes an unflattering comment about one of his players (again) and a social media controversy ignites (again - more on that later).
When it's all over and there are crumpled paper napkins whipping around an empty Sir Matt Busby Way, Mourinho and his coaches stay inside the stadium for hours.
They sit in Mourinho's office and pore over scouting reports and tactical sheets. They talk about the players and the next game. They plot.
It is after midnight when they leave, closer to 1am when Mourinho returns to the Lowry. The bar is quiet. The fans and the rent-a-cops are gone.

Mourinho, 55, has been the Manchester United manager for more than two years but the Lowry, a renowned if somewhat tired hotel, remains his home.
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City's Catalan coach and Mourinho's longtime nemesis, has embraced living in northern England, opening a restaurant in Manchester and settling in a city centre apartment.
Mourinho has resisted. His wife and children live 200 miles away, in the London home they moved into during Mourinho's Chelsea days. They rarely come to Manchester.

Rui Faria, Mourinho's longtime assistant, used to live at the Lowry with Mourinho but he resigned in May. Faria wanted to be around his kids, wanted to finally make his own way. Mourinho and Faria had been together for 17 years; Mourinho has told confidantes often how much he misses Faria.
Mourinho strides through the hotel's lobby. It is quiet. No family. No best friend. A team that can't win enough.
A group of players who don't want to listen enough or, maybe, are just tired of what they're hearing. The worker buffing the hotel's floor gives Mourinho a small smile as he swishes by.

Mourinho approaches the elevator to go upstairs. To his room. To the turn-down service with the tiny macarons on a china plate.
To the white, terry-cloth slippers wrapped in plastic. To the view of a dank river behind the curtains that usually stay drawn.
The light flashes. The bell dings. The doors close. Jose Mourinho is alone again, and the question follows him as the elevator climbs.
Is this what the end looks like?
The difference between loneliness and solitude is three points every weekend, and for most of his career Mourinho has willingly, if not willfully, separated himself from the pack.
He does it on his own. His nickname is not The Special Collaborator or The Special Delegator.
It is The Special One - one - and Mourinho embraced that designation while racking up titles in Portugal and Italy and Spain and England as the ultimate proof of the concept.

Even with that separation from the rest, though, there was always a kinship between Mourinho and his players.
He nurtured it, cared about it, attended to it in ways that allowed the players to believe they were - well, not equals, no. Never equals. But junior partners, perhaps. They felt they mattered.

Bit longish, so here's rest

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/jose-mourinho-s-last-stand-11009372

 

[yinyang]

Biting assessment of the team, not surprisingly. Last night's loss to Valencia maciam self-distruct.

Manchester United’s almost jazz-inspired incoherence
is a bleak reminder of their directionless state
These players had been signed by four different managers, to fit four different styles of play, and pretty much the only thing they had in common was their eye-watering price tag

This was a night for Manchester United to forget ( AFP/Getty Images )

Do you remember that bit they used to do during the X-Factor final, when they invited back all the worst rejected auditionees from earlier in the series, and got them to sing a discordant, hilariously inept medley? Well, Manchester United were a little like that here: a cobbled-together side putting together a cobbled-together performance that skirted the boundary between entertainment and public humiliation.
For United’s fans, meanwhile, an unwelcome trip through a hall of ghosts. A bleak reminder, albeit in a largely academic game, of the many missteps and missed opportunities that have brought them to this point: sixth in the Premier League, formless and directionless, a medley of variously talented individuals who once, not so long ago, could have been something.

It was a weakened United – of their line-up, only Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku had started at least half of their Premier League games this season – but on paper at least, it wasn’t a weak one. It boasted a full set of 11 internationals, 591 caps, 245 Champions League appearances, and pretty much every major trophy in the game: World Cups, Premier Leagues, a Champions League, a Copa Libertadores. It was a reminder that when Jose Mourinho complains at the paucity of resources at his disposal, this £380m assembly is his idea of a second string.

Just as relevant, though, was the fact that these players had been signed by four different managers, to fit four different styles of play, and pretty much the only thing they had in common was their eye-watering price tag. It showed, too: this was a performance of almost jazz-inspired incoherence, as the various ghosts of United’s recent eras tried gamely and vainly to get a tune going.

At times, you could even identify the constituent parts. There was a snatch of Van Gaal-era United in the long, somnolent periods of tepid reflection. A bouquet of Moyes in the leaden passing and occasional defensive calamity. A pinch of early Mourinho in the rugged physicality and the almost painful lack of ambition. Even a little Ferguson tribute in Marcus Rashford’s late goal and the grizzled injury-time rearguard.

It was just a shame that by that point, Valencia – a team far better than their 15th position in La Liga would suggest – had out-passed and out-thought them, swollen with the righteous rage of Fellaini’s handball goal against Young Boys a fortnight ago that had eliminated them and put United through. But to a large degree United were the writers of their own painful dirge, a team deprived of its cohesion by a manager who repeatedly eschews continuity in favour of the punishment dropping.

Nothing exemplified this better than Phil Jones’s own goal early in the second half: a breakdown in communication with Sergio Romero that you could scarcely have choreographed more calamitously. The injury-plagued Jones is, alas, a defender beginning to look increasingly out of step with every passing season, as people cotton onto his habit of pointing and shouting at his team-mates to cover a space that very often, he should have been covering himself.

The undercooked Marcos Rojo, a World Cup finalist in his better days, looked haunted and banal, and was put out of his misery at half-time. Lukaku, with his slaloming runs and muscly grapples, looked every inch the elite world-class striker, unless you also chose to look at the ball. And the number of times a United player simply let a Valencia opponent run straight past them will have infuriated Mourinho, who will have underlined the golden opportunity to win the game and top the group.

There were bright spots, too: Juan Mata, all confidence tricks and misdirection, like a cheeky uncle who wraps a pound coin in your palm and then pulls it out from behind your ear. Fred had a decent game in midfield. Eric Bailly remains a player of exceptional promise. And at the age of 31, Marouane Fellaini remains devastatingly effective, having finally worked out what he can do and more importantly what he can’t.
But for the most part, a team of lavish experience and unrivalled pedigree ended up looking like a sort of acrid tribute act to their former selves. What’s happened here? How did United become a team of such curdled, frustrated talents? How are so many of these players still at the club? Why haven’t they improved? And why, in the face of all the evidence, did Mourinho not take the opportunity to throw in a couple more young players in a more low-pressure environment?

To answer that question – a compound failure of recruitment, coaching, strategy and tactics – would require a whole new article. But there was a certain irony in the fact that having lost this evening, United trooped off the pitch to discover that Juventus had also lost their final group game to Young Boys. A United win would have seen them top the group and avoid most of the strongest teams in the round of 16. Instead, you suspect they may be about to get what they deserve.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...-champions-league-jonathan-liew-a8680771.html

 

[Gallego99]

The current team is a joke!!!

 

[yinyang]

Wenger weighs in on JM

Man Utd news: Zinedine Zidane should replace Jose Mourinho
for one reason - Wenger

Zinedine Zidane has been linked with the Manchester United job if Jose Mourinho leaves (Image: GETTY)
ZINEDINE ZIDANE should replace Jose Mourinho at Manchester United because it’s the only place
he can be ‘at the top’.
By JOSHUA PECK
PUBLISHED: 05:00, Thu, Dec 13, 2018

That’s the view of former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who believes the Premier League is 'top' place to manage.
Zidane has been linked to a move to England’s top-tier with many claiming he will replace Mourinho.

The Manchester United manager is under pressure after a disappointing start to the season, with the Red Devils sitting sixth in the Premier League after 16 games. Zidane is currently out of work having left his position as Real Madrid manager just days after guiding the side to a third successive Champions League title.

And Wenger believes Zidane needs to work in England.
"Yes [he should], why not? If you want to work at the top, it has to be England nowadays," claimed Wenger.
"But there are many uncertainties with Brexit and the uncertainty: will the Premier League continue to dominate financially? We'll know soon.
"England is the only country with six clubs that can fight for the championship.

“In all the other countries basically you can say in December who will win the championship and there are some countries, like France, where you can say it in September."

Mourinho is most bookies’ favourite to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job.
Manchester United’s next game sees them travel to Anfield to play Liverpool on Sunday (4pm).
Mourinho will be in charge for that one and former Red Devils star Paul Scholes has questioned whether Zidane should replace him.

“Is Zidane the right man though?” Scholes recently asked.
“He went in to Real Madrid who had a group of ready made winners already.
“This is a totally different job he would have to be rebuild confidence with a squad that isn’t quite performing.
“He went to Real Madrid with so many great players, it was still difficult but, this would be a whole rebuilding job.”

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...e-Mourinho-sack-replacement-Arsene-Wenger/amp

 

[yinyang]

Man Utd news: Sir Alex Ferguson gives Jose Mourinho replacement
green light to come in
MANCHESTER UNITED legend Sir Alex Ferguson would reportedly welcome Mauricio Pochettino as Jose Mourinho’s successor at Old Trafford.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...n-Jose-Mourinho-Tottenham-Mauricio-Pochettino

Manchester United have struggled since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho all failing to turn them into the swashbuckling side of old.

And now, the club would love Tottenham manager Pochettino to become their successor.
Manchester United have grown tired of Jose Mourinho. Not only are results poor, but the performances equally so. His treatment of star players such as Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez has also raised eyebrows.

Ferguson was used as a pawn, meeting the Tottenham manager for lunch as part of a huge charm offensive.
That was shortly after the club had axed Van Gaal - and at a time where Mourinho was lined up to take over.
United were supposedly snubbed by Pochettino, but ‘came closer than you can ever imagine’ to getting him in.
And The Sun say Ferguson has already endorsed the Tottenham boss as a possible United manager.

Man Utd: Five managers who could replace Jose Mourinho
Mauricio Pochettino - Tottenham.
Zinedine Zidane - Out of work since leaving Real Madrid.
Antonio Conte - Out of work since being sacked by Chelsea.
Leonardo Jardim - Out of work since leaving Monaco earlier this season.
Ryan Giggs - Wales.

It is claimed he is a huge adrmier of Pochettino due to the work he has done at Southampton and Spurs.
But whether United can lure him to Old Trafford as Mourinho’s successor remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, speaking back in August, former Spurs ace Jermaine Jenas expressed a belief that Pochettino WOULD take the United job.
“I think they’ve been after him for a long time to be honest with you. It’d be a huge test. I think deep down that’s the one Pochettino wants," he said.
“There’s only United and Real Madrid that I think really take his fancy.

Where could Jose Mourinho go next?
Real Madrid - Florentino Perez remains fond.
PSG - Thomas Tuchel will only be a success if he wins Champions League.
Niko Kovac - He's struggling at Bayern Munich and could be sacked.
Portugal - Mourinho has always craved the job.
England - Not while Gareth Southgate is there!

Mauricio Pochettino career as manager and player
Newell’s Old Boys (player) 1988-1994.
Espanyol (player) 1994-2000.
PSG (player) 2000 to 2003.
Bordeaux (player) 2003-2004.
Espanyol (player) 2004-2006.
Espanyol (manager) 2009-2012.
Southampton (manager) 2012-2014.

“When you think about it, Jurgen Klopp’s not going anywhere at Liverpool. Chelsea change their manager every two minutes but the Tottenham and Chelsea thing would ruin everything he’s done at Spurs.
“He already said he won’t go to Barcelona because of the links with Espanyol.
“There’s just two clubs really. I know you’ve got Bayern, PSG and so on but I think he’d prefer to stay in the Premier League or go back to La Liga.
“If that did happen [Mourinho leaves Man Utd], it would not surprise me if United go really hard for Pochettino. And, given what’s happened at Spurs, I’d be surprised if he stayed.”

 

[yinyang]

Man Utd: End of Jose Mourinho? Will Paul Pogba leave? The big questions after the Liverpool loss

A defeat by rivals Liverpool left Manchester United with their lowest points tally at this stage of a Premier League season and ex-players and pundits put the boot into Jose Mourinho's side.

Three years ago, on 17 December 2015, Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea.
Just a day short of that anniversary and the question on many people's lips was: will the same fate be on the cards at Old Trafford?

Former United and England defender Gary Neville said on Sky Sports: "I think it will happen - my preference would always be to get to the end of the season. But the board room is so naive it's unbelievable.

"The minute he [Mourinho] came back from pre-season he was at it and the club was out of control. Nobody above him can handle him. They don't know what to do with him, they don't know what to say to him. They don't know what he's going to say at every press conference. It will cost a fortune to lose him now."

United were outplayed in Sunday's 3-1 loss at Anfield, which leaves them in sixth, 19 points off leaders Liverpool.

Former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer, speaking on Match of the Day, said: "At the moment in that Manchester United team, only David de Gea is performing to his potential.

"Something has to change at the club. The board either has to get rid of the manager or back him and let him get the players he wants because there is a lot of work needed in that team. There's a lack of ability.
"The board clearly didn't back him in the summer. Jose had his targets and for whatever reason they weren't allowed to come in.
"But it's not always the manager's fault. I don't think many United players came off on Sunday thinking they had done their best."
"If you came down from the moon today and knew nothing about football, you'd say United are an average Premier League side, nothing more," said former United captain Roy Keane.

"They are Manchester United of the 1980s. They can be a decent cup team."

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, ex-Leicester City and Wales midfielder Robbie Savage added: "United have been so poor, pathetic.
"There can be no excuses now. They've spent plenty of money, they've brought players into the club - you've got over £100m on the bench. To be this far behind is ridiculous, really. It's not acceptable.

"Everything that United used to be, Liverpool are now."
His sentiment was echoed by Neville, who added: "Liverpool are streets ahead. Not one of the United midfielders can pass a football. I find it staggering. United were awful. It's not good enough."

• 'Man Utd were creatively bankrupt - it's hard to see Mourinho there next season'
• Can't win title, can still finish fourth, will definitely be top six - Mourinho on Man Utd
• Relive United's defeat at Liverpool

The damning statistics

• United have picked up 26 points after their first 17 Premier League games, their worst points haul in the top flight at this stage since 1990-91 (26 points).
• They have conceded 29 goals in the league this season - one more than they did in the whole of the 2017-18 campaign (28).
• They are 19 points off leaders Liverpool, 11 points off the top four and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.
• They have one win in six league games and a goal difference of zero.
• Liverpool's 19-point advantage over United is their biggest after the first 17 games of a top-flight season.
• Liverpool had 36 shots on Sunday - the most United have faced in a Premier League match since Opta started recording shot data in 2003-04.

'The club needs to reset'
Mourinho, who joined United in 2016, signed a new deal with the club in January until 2020.
He won the League Cup and Europa League in his first season and finished second in the Premier League last term, but has struggled on and off the pitch in 2018-19.

His side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in September, left to target fourth place with less than half a season gone and produced underwhelming performances as they qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Off the pitch he has publicly remonstrated players and his relationship with Paul Pogba, who he stripped of the vice-captaincy in September, remains rocky.
"Every press conference with Mourinho is a soap opera," said former Celtic and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 live.
"The bottom line is, is he getting the best out of this group of players? And we all know the answer.

"He's in denial, Jose - he's in cloud cuckoo land. Liverpool were better all over the park for 90 minutes and he says: 'For sure we'll finish in the top six.'
"Is that really what United fans want to hear? They finished second last season."
Savage said: "I can't see the pattern of play, I can't see the direction. Where's this United team going under Mourinho?

"Jose, you pick the players, you put them on the pitch to perform for your football club and they've not done it once again. They're not going to win the Champions League, they're not going to get in the top four. Where are they going?"

Neville added: "Fans don't want to go to the games. And that's not just now. It was the same under David Moyes - that was the manager's fault. The same under [Mourinho's predecessor Louis] Van Gaal - that was the manager's fault. Mourinho - that was the manager's fault.
"The whole club needs to reset."

Pogba's days are numbered'

It was another game on the bench for Pogba
France's World Cup-winning midfielder Pogba, the world's most expensive player when United bought him back from Juventus for £89m in 2016, was left on the bench for the third successive league game.
He was the only United player selected by BBC Sport readers in their Liverpool v Manchester United combined XI before the match.
But on Sunday, for the second game in a row, he was an unused substitute. So is this the end of Pogba's time at Old Trafford?
"I don't think Pogba has a future at the club," said Savage. "The big question is, who will be at United longer, Mourinho or Pogba?
"United have been embarrassed here today and you've got Paul Pogba, who cost £89m, unused on the bench."
Keane added: "Pogba's days are numbered. They won't sell him in January but he'll move on. It's no big deal, he's left United before."
Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness,speaking on Sky Sports, said: "Pogba must be thinking: 'Surely I'm better than Marouane Fellaini? Surely better than Nemanja Matic?
"But if he had a better attitude he'd be better than any midfielder in the Premier League."

 

[Gallego99]

When you have players like Matic, Fellaini, Lukaku and Mata, the manager knows that you can't play a high tempo game. Mou has problems with just about every other player he has brought in -including Bailly. It's pure BS that Mou does not have a final say to the acquisitions

Where does that leave the club? Stick with him and buy a lot more substandard players? It is as if Mou has the god given right to demand the best from the players just because he has won several trophies with various clubs in the past. Good Managers like Ferguson,Ancellotti and Lippi were never complacent and they move with the times but not this Portuguese.

In fairness, there are players who are not keen to play for the gaffer and I believe they're the same grp that gave LVG a hard time. Best that they ship these players and Mourinho out in the next season or two and start all over again.

 

[Gallego99]

Ferguson was right to say that Pogba wasn't ready. His farking defending is simply deplorable. Get rid of that nigger!!!

 

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

Man Utd: Who will replace Jose Mourinho on permanent basis?
By Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Zidane, Simeone, Pochettino? Who could replace Jose Mourinho?
Manchester United appeared to confirm Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as interim manager at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Old Trafford club posted a video on their website of the Norwegian scoring the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final and referred to him as "our interim manager". It was later deleted.
With Solskjaer seemingly set to arrive on a short-term basis, the club are looking to restructure with a technical director of football and a new permanent boss in the summer.

Who do they want and what do they want for the long term?
United's wishlist is for someone who can:

• Get the most out of United's big-money signings and create an identifiable style.
• Develop young players.
• Understand the philosophy, culture and core values of the club including its attacking traditions.
• Create a positive environment with players and staff.
• Work within a new structure, including reporting to a technical director of football.

So who might that permanent boss be?

Mauricio Pochettino
He will be top of the list. His Tottenham side play attractive football, and he has spent very little in comparison to his Premier League rivals.
Spurs are largely built around players he didn't sign, but Pochettino has a reputation for extracting the maximum out of the squad he has and has been credited with developing several young English players at the core of Gareth Southgate's vibrant, exciting national side.
He's known to have a human touch with players and staff, plus he already works under a chairman - Daniel Levy - who operates almost like a technical director.
Real Madrid were also interested in him last summer and, though they have Santiago Solari in place until 2021, those rumours persist. So could it be a heavyweight clash between Real and United for the services of the highly rated Argentine?
Pochettino only signed a new five-year contract at Spurs last summer and still appears to be on an upward curve at a club set to make a delayed move into a new stadium. If he could be prised out of Levy's clutches, expect any club to pay at least £20m to release him from that deal.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pochettino simply sent his "best wishes" to Mourinho. Asked about being a "perfect fit" for United, he replied: "A lot of rumours that happen in my position at Tottenham - I cannot answer that type of question. I am focused on doing the best I can here."

• Man Utd 'risk writing off two seasons' by appointing interim boss
• Football Daily podcast: What next for Man Utd?
• Solskjaer in running for Man Utd caretaker role as Pochettino tight-lipped
• 'Take stock and reset structure' - Neville on Man Utd
• Analysis: Yesterday's man? Is Mourinho finished at the top level?
• 'Caption this', 'Do one' and other reactions to Mourinho's sacking

Pochettino remains 'focused' at Tottenham after Mourinho sacking

Zinedine Zidane
Three Champions League titles in three years managing one of the biggest clubs in the world at Real Madrid. How's that for a managerial CV?
Zidane has been linked with United since he walked out of the Bernabeu in May - and there's a train of thought he'd be able to get the best out of fellow Frenchmen Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial.
But there remains questions over his technical coaching ability and development of young players, having inherited a team of global superstars in Madrid.
He'd also be expensive in terms of wages - but given United have just spent upwards of £18m to sack Mourinho, is any fee for any manager much of an issue in order to get it right?
But if Zidane was the club's top choice, why would they need to wait until the end of the season?

Diego Simeone
United have spoken to the Atletico Madrid boss before during previous managerial searches.
But is he the right man to follow Mourinho, given his similarly combustible reputation and functional, effective style of football?
Simeone is tactically well organised, has punched above his weight in La Liga, and is great at creating a siege mentality like legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, and Mourinho, at their best.
That's something United fans embrace - as long as it is 'us versus them' and not 'me versus them'.