Confrontation, contradictions & success: Manchester United are getting what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho

Confrontation, contradictions & success: Manchester United are getting what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho is getting results but there’s an air of negativity at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty) T..

Manchester United are getting exactly what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho is getting results but there’s an air of negativity at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty)

There was something peculiar about Jose Mourinho’s debut season at Manchester United.

The self-proclaimed Special One returned to the Premier League after a disastrous finish to his second spell at Chelsea and the effects of his exit were clear to see. The nature of his dismissal had tested Mourinho like he’d never been tested before. Where once Mourinho had an unshakeable confidence in his management, a second sacking from Chelsea had punctured a previously unwavering self belief.

He was back where he wanted to be, with a club that he had always wanted to manage. But Mourinho was not yet ready to battle. The side he inherited from Louis van Gaal was too weak and while he had nothing to prove, Mourinho was wounded.

Manchester United are getting exactly what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho
May’s Europa League final win has transformed Mourinho (Picture: Getty)

For much of his first 12 months at Old Trafford Mourinho was rebuilding both himself and the club. By a man of Mourinho’s standards there was a surprising lack of controversy but his side’s weakness forced him to keep his tendency for confrontation largely at bay.

There was the odd snipe but much of Mourinho’s public outcries were aimed at his own squad rather than the club’s rivals.

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Mourinho’s lack of belief in his own side meant he didn’t feel confident enough to go on the attack – both on and off the field. Relations with Pep Guardiola were suspiciously civil, while even old foe Arsene Wenger escaped Mourinho’s usually-relentless mind games.

It wasn’t until after May’s Europa League final win against Ajax that Mourinho gave us his standout jibe of the season:

Jose Mourinho after the Europa League final

‘There are lots of poets in football but poets, they don’t win many titles’

Mourinho had kept surprisingly quiet about the criticism of his side’s style of play and waited until they lifted the Europa League to bite back.

By the end it was a successful campaign. United had finished sixth but two trophies and Champions League qualification salvaged Mourinho’s first season at the club. Performances rarely matched results but United had got what they banked on: success.

He was overlooked as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor in 2013 but it’s amazing what a few trophy-lean seasons can do to football clubs. United wanted instant rewards and found them but the true Mourinho was yet to appear.

Manchester United are getting exactly what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho
Now we are seeing the true Mourinho (Picture: Getty)

In many ways, United have encountered the real Mourinho this season. The 54-year-old is a manager of baffling contradictions. His side have lost just once – against Huddersfield nonetheless – and have conceded just four league goals in ten matches. United are behind only Manchester City in the scoring charts and have a 100% record in the Champions League. There is a quarter-final clash to come against Bristol City in the League Cup.

And yet, an air of negativity surrounds United as they travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea on Sunday and much of it is Mourinho’s doing.

The public flirtations with Paris Saint-Germain, the ‘shushing’ of Manchester United fans and the public dismantling of his players completely contradict what has been a near faultless start to United’s season.

Manchester United are getting exactly what they bargained for with Jose Mourinho
Did United expect anything less from Mourinho? (Picture: Getty)

Mourinho has been keen on pointing the finger at his detractors but perhaps privately he’ll realise that he’s contributed as much to the needless unrest at Old Trafford.

But is there a single person inside the corridors of power at Old Trafford that can honestly say they’re surprised? This is what the club signed up for. The fallow post-Sir Alex Ferguson years needed an authoritative statesman to reverse the decline. Should the club really care if Mourinho’s to create the odd altercation? Are we really to forget the fractious years of Sir Alex?

United made a deal with the devil and they cannot hold him to new standards now that he’s restored their bravado. Mourinho would ideally like to stay beyond the end of his three-year deal but the club must decide if he’s for the long-term.

For now Mourinho is providing results, like he always has. The time for moral outrage or in-fighting can wait. There are trophies to be won.

MORE: Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho must break his own rules against Chelsea

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