Sport
NO TIME TO PANIC
The warning signs are already there in Jose Mourinho’s short tenure as Manchester United boss, but now is not the time to hit the panic button.
Mourinho’s position has come under increased scrutiny just eight games into his reign at Old Trafford after suffering three straight defeats for the first time in a decade as a manager.
The last time the Portuguese suffered three defeats in a row was in 2002 when he was in charge of Porto.
United now find themselves already six points adrift of leaders Manchester City and defeat to reigning Premier League champions Leicester City this weekend is unthinkable as United could be as far as nine points off the league leaders come the end of the weekend.
Just as people were getting carried away by Mourinho getting off to a seamless start with three successive victories in the league, people are getting carried away by United’s recent defeats.
Football is such a fickle game, following United’s perfect start to the campaign pundits were tipping Mourinho to lead United to the title and now after three defeats they are saying he could be sacked.
That perfect start has now long been forgotten about and Mourinho’s critics are baying for blood, but we have got to remember he is just four months into the job of trying to rebuild United into serious title contenders after three seasons of unfamiliar mediocrity under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
Time and patience are precious commodities in football management and both are usually in short supply in the ever-demanding Premier League, but Mourinho will need time to get things right at Old Trafford.
Mourinho must find the right balance in his team and it is fair to say he does not know his strongest team right now.
The former Chelsea boss also has some big decisions to make most notably what to do with his under-performing captain Wayne Rooney.
Rooney has so far failed to flourish under Mourinho and the United boss is coming under mounting pressure to drop the England star from the starting XI.
In defence of Rooney no United player has made more assists or created more chances this term, but the longer he fails to find his best form the more he will become a target for United supporters.
Dropping Rooney would be a major statement by Mourinho to rest of the squad, but it would represent a major gamble by the new United boss as the forward remains a big influence in the Old Trafford dressing room.
Mourinho must also get the best out of world record signing Paul Pogba who has so failed to live up to his £87million price tag.
The Frenchman appears to be lacking in confidence which seems staggering when you see the character of the player, but maybe that price tag is weighing heavily on the shoulders of Pogba.
Mourinho must trust his instincts and put his trust in Pogba by building his team around the player and finding a midfield partner who will help bring out the best in the French international. Mourinho must find a solution otherwise the fee paid for Pogba could be used as a noose around Mourinho’s neck.
Mourinho has publicly criticised some of his players in the wake of their disappointing performances and that stance is either brave or stupid given the egos inside the United dressing room.
Now is the time for Mourinho to take the pressure off his players and hope in return they can ease the growing pressure on him.
This weekend’s clash with Leicester takes on even greater significance than the fact United are playing the reigning champions – it represents the chance for Mourinho to silence his snipers by getting United’s campaign back on track, but defeat to Claudio Ranieri’s men will have the alarm bells ringing even louder in the corridors of power at Old Trafford.
It’s early days remember we are still only in September and surely the end of the season in May will be the time to judge Mourinho and this new-look United.
