Jose Mourinho replacing Louis van Gaal stories are now dominating the Manchester United Twitterverse, blogosphere, cyberspace and media world. It’s going to happen, we’re just awaiting official word from the club. Apparently though, no one seems to have told Van Gaal.
United club legend and current media pundit Phil Neville doesn’t see Mourinho staying around at Old Trafford very long though.
“I can’t see him staying too long at Man United, maybe two or three years, that seems to be his shelf life at a football club,” Phil Neville told BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek programme.
“When Jose finishes at a club it tends to be a pattern where he falls out with a few players, he gets disgruntled and the team dips.
“It happened at Chelsea, it certainly happened at Real Madrid where there were rumours he fell out with a few players.”
“It’s a pattern with Jose, he comes into a club, he gets success but he doesn’t stay for too long.”
Mourinho, like his predecessor Van Gaal, also makes for a very interesting sound bite because he’s extremely candid, and doesn’t shy away from being harsh on people in public. The main difference is that Mourinho’s players love him, while the Van Gaal era at United brought some “issues” in that regard. That’s another story for another time though.
While he may not be the long term solution (neither was Van Gaal, who only wanted a two year deal, but settled on three year contract that he won’t see the third and final year of) Phil Neville still believes that Mourinho is the right man for the job right now, and that he’ll continue his winning ways at the Theatre of Dreams.
“He’s a proven winner, a proven champion. United fans want a team that will challenge for the league title, not a team that finishes seventh or fifth, and Jose is probably the man for the job,” Phil Neville said.
“Knowing Jose as I do, I think he will have done his homework and he’s meticulous in his planning.”
“Don’t be surprised if United in the next month, and particularly before the Euros, sign three or four players and when he gets to pre-season he has his squad already in place.”
“He knows who he wants and at the start he will demand United sign those players for United to become championship challengers again.”
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.
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