Why Jose Mourinho is the perfect manager for Manchester United

Ever since Jose Mourinho was fired from his Chelsea job, he has been constantly linked to the Manchester United job, one that he has admitted to friends he really wants. In the meantime, the erstwhile noisy neighbours have made their intentions to dominate Europe clear by appointing Pep Guardiola, the anti-Jose if there ever was one. However, the latest reports emanating from Old Trafford suggest that Jose Mourinho is set to take over from Van Gaal at the end of this season. Here's why Jose Mourinho should be given the shot to manage United.

Jose’s self-belief

Let’s get this straight, the reason David Moyes failed as Manchester United manager is that he simply didn’t have the self-confidence and arrogance required to be the manager of the greatest team. This eventually led to pressure and saw him get fired. On the other hand, fans had expected much more from Louis Van Gaal, a manager with an unquestionable European pedigree. Questions, however, still remain over his abrasive management style. Combined with his ill-advised philosophy, it’s hard for Man Utd fans to stomach their position on the table after spending over £250 million. They thought the arrogance would be back in United with Van Gaal’s appointment, but teams no longer fear the Red Devils. It’s an arrogance that Jose Mourinho can restore.

Mourinho’s impressive CV

Interestingly, it’s one of LVG’s older protégés who stands as the perfect choice to take over at Manchester United. In fact, Van Gaal’s season at Barcelona in 1999-2000 is often talked of as the greatest sporting seminar of all time. The group of players and assistant managers at Barcelona included Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola (current Bayern manager), Luis Enrique (current Barca manager), Philip Cocu (current PSV manager) and Ronald Koeman (current Southampton manager). Among them, it’s Mourinho whose record can be considered the best, winning league titles in England, Portugal, Italy and Spain and even the Champions League with Inter Milan and FC Porto.

Jose walked into English consciousness in the 2003-04 season when his Porto beat Manchester United and he slid down the Old Trafford touchline, much to the chagrin of Sir Alex Ferguson who wondered about this upstart. Ferguson would go on to join the Mourinho fan group and would later describe him as a guy ‘who can stay on the surfboard longer than others’ and the two developed immense respect for each other.

While Chelsea imploded spectacularly in this season's Premier League, Mourinho remains an attractive prospect. 

Ryan Giggs isn’t ready

Many romantics would love to see Ryan Giggs take over as manager of Manchester United, but United have tried that approach before and failed miserably. David Moyes showed us the hazards of appointing someone without enough experience, and while many, including club legend Bryan Robson, have asked for Giggs to be made next manager, it will be, in my opinion, a grave mistake. Bryan Robson was quoted as saying: “Ryan really can be the Guardiola of United, I am sure of it." Robson told The Sun, “Yes, he's a quiet lad but that should make no difference. He has always been a deep thinker on the game. He's worked hard to get to this point.They talk about Guardiola being intelligent and having a great football brain. Ryan is no different. He just needs the chance to prove what he can do once Van Gaal goes. There should be no knee-jerk reaction, no panic. Guardiola has a great record but United should not be reacting to what happens at City. United should carry on what was started when Van Gaal arrived. It was always said that during Van Gaal's time as manager Ryan would learn under him, get his pro-licence and be ready for the job. That should still be the case. People say Ryan hasn't got the experience. But he watched how Sir Alex Ferguson worked for 26 years and he's watching Van Gaal go about things now. He represents United's soul. He has been at the club since he was 13 and knows what is expected.”

Frankly, if witnessing Sir Alex Ferguson was enough to become a top manager, then many a Man Utd alumni would be dominating the managerial seats. Sadly, most of them, from Roy Keane to Mark Hughes, have struggled at the very top of the game. Even Gary Neville’s plight at Valencia is evidence enough that just being a great pundit or a good player isn’t enough to become a top manager.

To counter Man City’s Pep Guardiola

Let’s get this straight, by singing Pep Guardiola's praises Man Utd’s erstwhile noisy neighbours have made a statement that they intend to replace United as the top dogs in Manchester, England and Europe. It’s a statement of intent to all the European heavyweights that there’s more to Manchester City than oil money. A move that started with the arrival of Txiki Begiristain (Director of Football) and Ferran Soriano (CEO) and the setting up of a state-of-the-art academy, has seen the entry of Pep Guardiola. This means Man City is now in pole position to court the best players in the world.

The only way Manchester United can counter this is to sign the man many have called Barcelona’s fallen angel, the most anti-Barcelona man available in world football, and one who has been a constant thorn in Pep Guardiola’s sides.

It was the Special One’s Inter Milan who showed the world how to counter Barcelona’s tiki-taka in 2010, forcing them to pass the ball incompetently among each other. Not only does he know how to stop Guardiola sides, he knows how to get under his former comrade’s skin.

And it’s pretty clear that Mourinho wants this job badly, as Sun’s football writer Rob Beasley was quoted as saying; “He thought - and Fergie thought - he was getting the job when Fergie was leaving, they had spoken about it. It seemed Fergie was setting Jose up to take over. But he ended up back at Chelsea. Manchester United, he would love it. Imagine Jose Mourinho walking out in front of the Stretford End and giving them the pump fists. 'What can we do? You're the 12th man.' The fans would go mental.”