Jose Mourinho: ‘He is still capable of a title’
Leading football commentator Jacqui Oatley has warned people against writing off Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
Despite United’s poor run of form in the Premiership, Oatley believes the former Chelsea manager is still capable of winning the title … but not this season.
In a guest lecture to the University’s unique Football Journalism degree students, Oatley said she was baffled by Mourinho’s ‘change in demeanour’ compared with his early days at the London club.
In her opinion, the Eva Carneiro incident that took place whilst he was at Chelsea was the ‘beginning of the end’.
Mourinho was known for his roundabout ways of controlling the media and taking the blame for poor performances, shielding his players from criticism.
However, the new Mourinho seems to be a bit more provocative when it comes to facing the media now.
“He used to be fun and witty. When he controlled or tried to control the media, he would do it with a bit of banter,” she said.
This new side we’re seeing to Mourinho could be what is affecting his ability as a manager; this isn’t the Jose Mourinho we all know and love (well, maybe not all of us).
When asked whether this is a confidence issue, Oatley went on to say: ‘There’s something going on, he’s not quite the person he was, he knows that he’s got something to prove’.
The pressure is mounting for the struggling manager, as he will want to prove that it isn’t him who lost Chelsea the title and that there are no issues with his ability as a manager.
Nonetheless, Jacqui believes that he will return back to his title winning ways after his first season with United,
“Mourinho is more than lucky, he just needs the players that he wants in there but he hasn’t got them at the moment,” she said.
After spending £159 million in the summer, Mourinho’s side are showing signs of a struggle after drawing with Stoke and Liverpool and losing 4-0 to Chelsea where their performance was just not good enough for the quality of the players that are in the team.
A further disappointing draw with Burnley at the weekend saw United slip to 8th in the league table, eight points of leaders Manchester City.
Written by Frankie Turner.
