#360view: Mourinho's Fergie flashback proves he's a great fit

Alam Khan - Reporter 09:40 06/07/2016
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    It has taken three years of under-achievement and unhappiness, but finally Manchester United look to have the rightful managerial heir to Sir Alex Ferguson.

    In this game of footballing thrones, Jose Mourinho is the Old Trafford outfit’s third permanent boss since the legendary Scot retired in 2013.

    In hindsight, he should have been handed the role back then, rather than be tempted by a return to former club Chelsea.

    Having left Real Madrid at that same time, it still seems perplexing that David Moyes was preferred at such an important period in the club’s history.

    And Tuesday’s unveiling of Mourinho showed exactly why. It was like watching a flashback to Fergie. Brash, beguiling and bold, smiling one minute, serious the next. The Portuguese offered honesty and hope for fans of a club desperate for an immediate return to their glory days. And there was no lack of passion, no hiding his impatience to get on with the job and he was prepared to address some misconceptions, particularly that he did not force hero Ryan Giggs out of the club.

    He also insisted he does give youth a chance. He happily offered up pages of his notebook listing the 49 names of players he has promoted through the academies until a spilled glass of water ruined the opportunity.

    There have been suggestions that Mourinho was considered too controversial for United, uncontrollable perhaps, and volatile outbursts or crass comments might even damage their brand globally.

    But it didn’t do the club any harm when Fergie had rows with players, officials, rivals or governing bodies did it? What ultimately mattered was being winners and building a team that ranked alongside the world’s best. Mourinho is ready to embrace and relish that challenge. Claiming United are the ‘biggest club in the UK’ will go down very well with fans disgruntled by their decline.

    Captain Wayne Rooney – just four goals short of being the club’s all-time record scorer – should also be heartened to hear his midfield experiment will soon be over.

    After a seven-month break since his sacking by Chelsea, Mourinho has clearly got his mojo and motivation back. As he promised to be ‘aggressive’ in trying to revive the fortunes of a club that has won 20 top-flight titles, but finished seventh, fourth and fifth since Fergie left, there was no disguising Mourinho’s ambition to add to his own trophy haul, which currently stands at 22 from spells in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain.

    “I’m 53,” he said. “Not 63 or 73. If I don’t have this approach about trying to prove myself and others and not going for big challenges, I am in trouble.”

    It was a far cry from the difficult days, and anxious approach, of Moyes and his successor Louis van Gaal. Each of them had merits, but it always felt like they could not handle the pressure, meet expectations, nor escape Ferguson’s shadow.

    Moyes once talked of aspiring to reach the level of neighbours Manchester City while Van Gaal seemed content with fourth spot.

    Mourinho wants to be No1, it’s in his nature as he said bullishly, and the club’s transfer dealings already prove how eager he is to build a United side to achieve that.

    Unlike Moyes and Van Gaal, he has not wasted time this summer, but recognised what areas needed strengthening and moved quickly to land key targets.

    Eric Bailly will provide a powerful presence to the defence, Henrikh Mkhitaryan much-needed vision and creativity and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in what he sees as an “amazing complement” with talented teenager Marcus Rashford up front. Paul Pogba is the one that he wants to complete that fab four and if he can pull off a world record deal for the France midfielder then United will have a side to banish the painful memories of the recent past and rise up to reign supreme with the right man in charge.

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