United fans would stomach Mourinho nonsense if they played some decent football
WHILE JOSE Mourinho was taking questions in his press conference on Monday afternoon, Manchester United were taking care of business. As Mourinho talked, the club’s social media accounts revealed the launch of a special edition whisky to mark their European Cup triumph of 1968.
In case you had missed the announcement back in August, United signed a three-year deal with the Chivas whisky company and now the club’s “official spirits partner” has released a 50-year-old Scotch in memory of the 4-2 win over Benfica. Only one of the four bottles produced will be sold and that will happen soon at the Sotheby’s auction house.
So it wasn’t exactly an announcement to soothe the fraying tempers of the Stretford End during these testing times. Many see United’s relentless commercialism and money-making as a necessary off-shoot of the business. If there is money to be made in football, better your own club makes it than the one down the road.
But others see it all as a bit crass. Even though the proceeds of the Sotheby’s sale will go to bolster the work of United’s foundation, such glossy images of United’s modern-day largesse don’t sit comfortably when compared with the poverty of what is often seen on the field.
About the same time as Monday’s announcement, United made another, totally different one, informing supporters that tickets were still available for this important European game.
That is not completely unheard of at United for early stage Champions League matches but still it jars a bit at the home of what we are so often told is the world’s biggest football club.
This issue sits at the heart of what is wrong at United these days. How can a club that continues to shine so brightly off the field look so modest on it?
The team that began this game cost £370million to assemble. Conveniently, that is just about exactly the value of the 11 players who started Manchester City’s match in Germany yesterday afternoon. Worth remembering, the next time Mourinho starts to grumble about his club’s willingness or otherwise to invest in the players he wants.
United’s Bobby Charlton scored two of the four goals commemorated this week by those fancy whisky bottles and he was in the directors’ box as usual for this game.
As we know, the Old Trafford icon held deep reservations about Mourinho prior to his appointment two-and-half years ago, but they were largely bound to his behaviour rather than his football. Here, as United sought to bring clarity to their season, it was their manager’s ability to produce results, style and entertainment that was once again on the line and one can only guess at what Charlton has made of it all of late.
The 1968 team embodied style. It says something that Charltonwas not even the best player in it. Currently the question of style and expression is moot.
How important is it to play with flair and gusto at Manchester United? Well, the general rule of thumb is that it is important at least to try and this is one of several areas where Mourinho currently fails.
United and their support would stomach the nonsense that so often swirls around their Portuguese coach — most of it caused by him, of course — if they won some games and played some decent football along the way. Given the money invested in this squad — another £190m of talent sat on the bench — it shouldn’t really be too much to ask.
But it is United’s poor football — and recent poor results — that allowed an ex-player like Paul Scholes to label Mourinho’s behaviour ‘embarrassing’ on TV last night.
Mourinho has always lit fires with what he says and does but only when the football starts to slide in to the gutter does his behaviour become particularly relevant.
Rio Ferdinand’s comments on BT last night about what he believes to be the lack of a work ethic among United’s players were also pertinent simply because that reflects equally poorly on the manager.
Here, United’s first-half performance largely epitomised the mood. Mourinho’s players were not without industry but they were devoid of imagination and cohesion.
During an opening half that did not finish until almost 9pm, the home team did not create a chance of note.
Valencia were marginally more progressive and had the game’s best player in Portuguese winger Goncalo Guedes. With most of the tickets eventually sold, United’s support stayed with their team and that was admirable.
But how long does this go on? How much longer does a forwardthinking club like this one tolerate this numbing, cloying sense of stasis? All of sudden, United have become desperately boring — and that is the greatest indictment of all.