If the International Champions Cup had a lead story this past summer, it was certainly Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho complaining about it. There was a ton of griping and whining from Mourinho this past summer, and the ICC was just one dimension of it.
Due to players enjoying post-World Cup holidays, he was forced to bring a very young Red Devils squad across the pond to the United States. Mourinho lashed out over his having to field squads that featured so many players who wouldn’t be making the senior team, let alone match day squads and starting XIs.
At one point, he even said that he would not pay his own money to see his team play in person. You could imagine how this say with Relevent Sports, the firm that ran the competition, and ESPN, their broadcast partner.
Charlie Stillitano, Executive Chairman for Relevant Sports, labeled Mourinho a “pain in the butt.” While that might seem harsh, remember that every other team in the field had to deal with the same format and time tables, and you did not hear them complaining like Mourinho.
“Yeah we had a few cheeky words together,” Stillitano said in an interview with ESPN. “He’s a good man and he’s been really good to us and I understand him better than most I’d say.”
“I think managers that I know see us as the guys who take them abroad. And for them the reality is that they take it very seriously.”
“The managers take it very seriously. And the commercial people take it very serious for their business to grow their brand, but the managers take it more than anybody, want the right atmosphere, want the right training environment.”
“They want to prepare their team and our tournament has become the best tournament of its kind, and its kind is really to prepare the team, so they take it very seriously.
“And Jose, he’s a pain in the butt when it comes to making sure everything is perfect at his training facility. And I would expect whatever teams come over from La Liga are going to torture me too in the same way to make sure that everything is perfect.”
Yes, there is a plan to stage a La Liga regular season game in the United States, specifically Miami, with reports claiming the match-up will be Barcelona versus Girona.
Although there was a whole lot written about Mourinho and his complaining this summer, one factor seems to have gone overlooked.
He knew it was a World Cup year, and that players would be away on international duty. The troubles he encountered were, for the most part, expected and predictable.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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