NOW the fear at Manchester United is that it is all going to implode. With just 11 days to go before they kick off the new season, Jose Mourinho is on a war footing. Not just with his players — but with United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. The same Woodward who has done more than anyone to loosen the Glazers’ purse strings during their time in charge of the club. Boss Mourinho might be privately chuntering on about penny pinching over big signings this summer as they try and fail to land Harry Maguire — but he should not. Because ‘penny pincher’ Woodward has got £600million out of the owners in the last four years. Jose Mourinho unhappy with lack of Manchester United signings after being thrashed by Liverpool in pre-season friendly Where has it got United? They seem to be running on sand. Throwing cash and managers at a problem that will not go away. That problem is Manchester City. When Old Trafford chiefs landed Mourinho at … [Read more...] about Jose Mourinho on war-footing as Manchester United board fear club set to implode
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Manchester United need to give Jose Mourinho what he wants in transfer window
Jose Mourinho misquoted the Rolling Stones as he dwelt on Anthony Martial's future. "You don't always get what you want in life," the United manager mused. Mourinho had seconds earlier suggested he was oblivious to what Martial's agent Philippe Lamboley had said on French television about the United forward last month. Lamboley did not strike while the iron was hot and Martial has not looked too hot on United's pre-season tour so far. He drifted to the fringes in the stalemate with Club America in Phoenix and was, by a distance, United's poorest performer in Santa Clara. Martial was one of two players who stayed on for the duration as he failed to register against San Jose Earthquakes, the MLS Western Conference's basement club. United became the first side to fail to score past them this season and Martial was moved from the centre forward's role at the start of the second-half. In heat which required two drinks breaks, Martial skulked around as though he was being punished. Early in … [Read more...] about Manchester United need to give Jose Mourinho what he wants in transfer window
This transfer window will define Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United legacy
There was no disgrace in finishing as Premier League runners-up to a rampant Manchester City last season but there is a strange feeling of anxiety and apathy building among the Manchester United fanbase this summer. The truth is last season’s league position has masked the deep-lying problems at the club. A trophyless season that incorporated some of the most uninspiring football displayed by a top-six side, a woeful Champions League exit and a one-horse title race made it a really sub-standard one by United’s lofty expectations. It is no surprise the fans have been left with a sour taste after watching the last four games of the season that yielded a solitary goal. Fans have craved for a game-changing summer with sales of the squad’s dead wood as well as the arrival of impactful incomings to close the gap on the noisy neighbours. Fred’s transfer was met with some excitement. The midfield is in desperate need of an incisive passer who could inject urgency into … [Read more...] about This transfer window will define Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United legacy
Why Manchester United missed out on perfect midfield signing
As England's exhausted players collapsed on the Luzhniki turf on Wednesday night, one man looked like he had another 120 minutes in the tank. Luka Modric had just spent two hours dominating a World Cup semi-final but you wouldn't have guessed it given the midfielder's buoyancy in his post-match interview. Having orchestrated Croatia's win over Gareth Southgate's young team, the Real Madrid midfielder was fully of energy as he spoke to ITV after the match and hit out at those who had predicted a comfortable England victory. "English journalists, pundits from television, they underestimated Croatia and that was a huge mistake," Modric said with a wide grin. "All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying, 'OK, today we will see who will be tired'." And see we did, as Modric delivered arguably the performance of the tournament so far to drag Croatia, a country with a population of just four million, to a World Cup final. Not since 1950, when Uruguay beat Brazil in … [Read more...] about Why Manchester United missed out on perfect midfield signing
Manchester United can make up for Mateo Kovacic transfer mistake
December 2011 was one of the more changeable festive periods of Sir Alex Ferguson's epoch. United were relegated to the Europa League by Basel, thumped Fulham and Wigan 5-0 but ended the month with a 3-2 home reverse against Blackburn. Paul Pogba was affronted by Rafael da Silva's midfield selection for that New Year's Eve defeat and Ferguson decided his future by coaxing Paul Scholes out of retirement the next week. Pogba was not the only teenage midfielder frustrated by Ferguson. A 17-year-old Croat in the Dinamo Zagreb academy was optimistic about moving to United but the deal never materialised. Last month, Mateo Kovacic won as many European Cups as United. The suspicion was the Glazer family owners denied United the £10million required to sign Kovacic, a €29m signing for Real Madrid in 2015. Parsimony was rife at United in an era where they invested frugally, avoided midfield additions and eschewed established players until City's breakthrough title convinced Ferguson … [Read more...] about Manchester United can make up for Mateo Kovacic transfer mistake