As the international break ends, Manchester United sit 6th in the table, 8 points behind top of the table #Liverpool. Preparing themselves for a visit from 4th place Arsenal, Man United haven't lived up to the massive expectation placed on them when #Mourinho took over the helm.
Chelsea still affecting him?
After a toxic final season at Chelsea which saw him sacked last December, Mourinho was expected to revert to old ways and dominate world Football with Man United with the strong financial backing of Ed Woodward. However Mourinho hasn't done much so far to convince this season and whether he will remains to be seen, but is a man who is known to implode after three seasons the long term manager that Manchester United are looking for?
We all know what happened at #Chelsea, Eva Carneiro, refusing to comment in post match interviews and losing the backing of the players and the board it's all been said before. With many expecting a repeat two years from now, is it actually going to happen? Mourinho had known for months that he was taking over from Van Gaal and had all that time to scout the team, identify weaknesses and look to resolve them. Hence the arrivals of #Ibrahimovic, Bailly, Mkhitaryan and a world record transfer on Paul Pogba. Every single one of his signings are well known established players and got the world of football eagerly awaiting to see what United
Every single one of his signings are well known established players and got the world of football eagerly awaiting to see what United were going to to achieve this season.
Winning the league was the only target and it started well with wins in the opening 3 games and a Community Shield but then they faced Man City. A 2-1 defeat and United slipped from top of the table to now lingering in 6th place. Negative tactics in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool and questions over the quality of Ibrahimovic and Pogba have caused Mourinho to come under scrutiny, raising questions on whether he will actually return to his best.
The curse of 3 seasons?
The implosion many were expecting is not going to happen as Mourinho is currently still feeling the effects of his Chelsea nightmare. This is man who even back in his days at FC Porto, is used to winning and being in a precarious position is not something he is used to. That was seen as one of the reasons why his final season at Chelsea was self-destructive, because he couldn't adapt to being in a role of needing to prove himself.
But that is where he found himself at Man United, the fans needed assurance that they would not see the Mourinho who was sacked by Chelsea and the one that won the league the preceding season. They seemed like the perfect fit, Mourinho is a manager who buys his teams rather than develop them and Man United have strong financial backing, it was meant to dominate the Premier League.
The side that Van Gaal left behind wasn't exactly world class but the summer additions shocked the world of football and made Man United instant favourites for the title. However it seems to be a case of signing the name rather than the player. Whilst there is no doubt that Paul Pogba is a world class player, there is not a fan, manager, player or pundit alike who agrees with the £89m world record transfer figure.
He is not a player who is going to score last minute winners or win games on his own and based on his unconvincing performances this season it's clear that the pressure of such a massive figure is weighing on the player's mind.
Then there is Ibrahimovic signed on a free transfer, it was one of the biggest sagas of the transfer window. 35 years-old the Swedish striker was tipped to fire United to the title but despite scoring in his first 3 games for the club, went 6 games without scoring a league goal before his brace against Swansea. The fine wine striker is not in bad form, but like Mourinho and #Pogba, not living up to initial expectation. Even though it is still early days in this seasons Premier League, unless Man United start climbing rapidly up the table and challenging the top four, there will always be questions about whether Mourinho's Chelsea nightmare is affecting his #Manchester United side.
