Jose Mourinho’s past means nothing at Manchester United — football has moved on and he’s being left behind

NO ONE should have been surprised by Jose Mourinho’s post-match comments last night.

For him, only the result was disappointing. The performance was what he was looking for beforehand.

David Klein

AFP

You know what you get with Mourinho. He doesn’t care how, he just wins, doesn’t he?

Except that was then. Now, he’s not winning. He’s just boring — on the pitch and off it.

Mourinho arrived in England nearly 15 years ago. Go back 15 years prior to that, you had the back-pass rule and most European leagues still awarded two points for a win

Football moves forward. What made Sir Alex Ferguson so great was his abitilty to constantly adapt to the changing landscape of the game.

Arsene Wenger, for example, has proven he is incapable, and now it appears more and more likely the same can be said of Mourinho.

AFP

EPA

When the self-proclaimed Special One swaggered into town as a European champion with unfancied Porto in 2004, he brought his brand of football and wasn’t scared to take on anyone.

The Premier League had never seen anything like it, and he was dubbed the first “modern manager”.

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He fused Fergie’s ferocity and psychological warfare with innovative tactics which allowed his physically dominant sides to control matches without having the ball.

It was great and he was rightly lauded for it.

But that was nearly 15 years ago. Go back 15 years prior to that, you had the back-pass rule and most European leagues still awarded two points for a win.

The game moves on and the Pep Guardiola-model is proving successful to a raft of young managers.

Manchester United have the players to at least compete with their local rivals. Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial are world class talents.

They would thrive under Guardiola, who would get the best out of them. Players improve tactically and technically under the Spaniard. They enjoying playing for him.

AP:Associated Press

AP:Associated Press

Under Mourinho, the shackles are on and they are a prisoner to a rigid system only he seems to enjoy.

As last night proved, there is no benefit in playing for a 0-0 draw away from home in the first leg.

Sevilla were the weakest possible opponents United could have drawn in the Champions League.

The Red Devils were spared facing Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Shakhar and Porto.

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Porto, who have an incredibly proud home record in Europe, were unbeaten and top of the Primeira Liga when Liverpool visited.

But Jurgen Klopp didn’t his side up to draw 0-0, when a goalless draw would have at least been an acceptable result for them, he went for throat and ended the tie dead, winning 5-0.

While knocking Sevilla was never going to be a walk in the park by any means, United were superior in every position.

Last season, they were competing for the title at this stage and were eliminated by Leicester. Now, they are 11 points behind the Champions League places in La Liga. They have significantly weakened.

AFP

AP:Associated Press

There was absolutely no need to keep the tie alive after the first leg. United should have ended the contest at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Yes, Mourinho could still win the FA Cup and finish second in the league, but that would be simply papering over cracks. What comes next? What can United fans expect moving forward?

It’s the mentality, the approach, that is the issue. He is happy to play Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini at home in a massive European game.

He is happy to show no ambition or imagination and rely on a moment of brilliance by one of his attacking players

Reuters

The fans were right to boo. There is no reason why they shouldn’t demand to be entertained.

Yes, Mourinho has improved United, but just a little — and nowhere enough considering he is given a blank chequebook every transfer window.

Football has moved on and he needs to get with the times.

Or he won’t be considered the first modern manager at all, but merely the last of a dying breed.