Since about last Christmas (apologies for the Wham! reference there) it was widely reported that Manchester United would sack then Manager Louis van Gaal and replace him with Jose Mourinho. After the calendar flipped to 2016, this was a very poorly kept secret.
On FA Cup match day, it came out that Van Gaal was done, and that Mourinho would be replacing him. At least the Dutchman got the opportunity to be sent out on a high note.
Van Gaal couldn’t deliver a top four finish, which was disappointing enough in itself, but his philosophy made him even more disliked. At United, you can’t just win; you must win with panache and style. Van Gaal produced a lot of matches that were Ambien in football form.
So many dull goalless draws.
Enter Mourinho, who like his predecessor is a defensive minded coach. However, he has a very different style and philosophy.
“My teams are different to Mr Van Gaal’s teams. I want to make it clear that I am not saying my teams are better or have better ideas or my principles of play are better. Not at all,” said Mourinho at his press briefing in advance of tomorrow’s Community Shield.
“My teams are different to Mr Van Gaal, and it is a difficult situation to change the dynamics.
“It would be easier for me to have 20 new players and start from zero.”
Mourinho says that the transition from the Van Gaal regime to his new era at Old Trafford will not happen overnight.
“Of course, after two years of work, there are things in their brain that are automatic and that is difficult to change, but we are working hard and the players are trying everything.”
“Of course we make mistakes and we are far from perfection, but they are giving everything to adapt, and step by step my team is going to be my team.”
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“Our preseason was strange — good for some players but not enough for others. The number of matches was not enough. The match not played against Man City was really bad for us.
“The week of work, which I can change and say the week of no work, in China was really bad for us, so we need to train and we need to play. We need minutes for the players.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.