LONDON • Jose Mourinho reportedly cried when he heard David Moyes had been chosen over him as the heir to Alex Ferguson's throne in 2013.
He was eventually appointed in 2016 but, having finally landed his dream job, his Manchester United tenure also ended in tears.
The axe finally fell on the Portuguese yesterday yet the only surprise among pundits had been how long it took the club to act, coming a day after the third anniversary of his dismissal from a second spell at Chelsea, just six months after winning the Premier League title.
The seeds of the inevitable divorce had been sowed as early as pre-season, with Mourinho blaming the board for a lack of backing in the transfer market, before falling out with several first-team players, notably Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia.
Results on the pitch mirrored the infighting at the club and Sunday's 3-1 defeat by bitter rivals Liverpool, which left United 19 points off the league leaders after just 17 games for their worst start to a season since 1990, proved to be the final straw.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was instantly installed as the bookmakers' favourite to take over the hot seat, with former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane and former France coach Laurent Blanc also considered to be in the running.
The Argentinian, however, sought to quell speculation he could be tempted to leave Wembley for Old Trafford, insisting he was "so focused in trying to deliver my best in this football club".
Speaking at his pre-match press conference before Spurs' visit to Arsenal in the League Cup quarter-finals today, Pochettino added he could not address the rumours, but was "so sorry" to hear of Mourinho's sacking.
He said: "I have a very good relationship with him so it's very sad news what happened today. It's not my business and I want to send my best wishes to Jose."
While an official statement from the club confirmed they would be "appointing a new caretaker manager until the end of the season, as a thorough recruitment process for a new full-time manager is conducted", pundit Gary Neville urged the United hierarchy to pull out all the stops for Pochettino.
The former United defender said: "I've been fortunate to spend time at Tottenham's training ground and, for me, he feels like the ideal candidate.
"United have tried managers who have won European Cups, they've tried managers who have won multiple leagues.
"My view is they need someone who meets the three key principles of the football club, and that is promotion of youth, entertaining football and to win football matches."
Rio Ferdinand agreed with his former United teammate, tweeting "the time had come for fresh ideas at United".
But, while pundits unanimously agreed the writing had been on the wall for the 55-year-old, some felt others should have joined him in passing through the exit door.
Mourinho's departure was in part triggered by the breakdown of his relationship with Pogba, who was not named in United's starting XI at Anfield for a third straight league game.
The France midfielder and club-record buy at £89 million (S$154.2 million) courted controversy by taking to Instagram just moments after news of Mourinho's sacking broke, posting a picture of himself smiling and writing "caption this" next to it.
His now-deleted post was widely interpreted as celebrating Mourinho's dismissal and he was slammed by Neville, who tweeted: "You do one as well."
Former United striker Brian McClair also echoed similar thoughts, tweeting he should "not (be) the only one who should depart".
It is understood the compensation due to Mourinho will be no more than £15 million and, according to The Guardian and the BBC, former United striker and current Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the current favourite as interim boss.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
Highs and lows at Theatre of Dreams
HIGHS
AUGUST 2016
Wins first trophy at United with a 2-1 victory over Premier League champions Leicester City in the Community Shield at Wembley.
FEBRUARY 2017
United win League Cup after a dramatic 3-2 win over Southampton at Wembley.
MAY 2017
Guides United to the Europa League title with a 2-0 victory over Ajax in Stockholm.
JANUARY 2018
JOSE'S SOUNDBITES
UNITED STOPPED IMPROVING
There was an evolution in the other clubs; there was no evolution in this club. In all the areas that make a team successful, I think we stopped in time. That was quite an empty period in the club.
JOSE MOURINHO, appraising the spells of predecessors David Moyes and Louis van Gaal in September 2017.
TROPHIES MAKE LEGACIES
If, at the end of the three years, I don't win a single piece of silverware for them, they will say, 'Great guy, good coach, we like him, but we feel nothing special about him'.
MOURINHO, saying in October 2016 he must win trophies to be "special" to United fans.
'JUDGE ME ON MY CAREER'
We had a bad week. I know that some football Einsteins, they tried to delete 16 years of my career and delete an unbelievable history of Manchester United Football Club and focus on a bad week and three bad results. But that's the new football - it's full of Einsteins.
MOURINHO, after successive losses to Manc City, Feyenoord and Watford in 2016.
Signs a new contract until 2020, with the option of a further year.
APRIL 2018
Paul Pogba scores twice and Chris Smalling gets the winner as United come from two goals behind to win 3-2 at Manchester City and delay Pep Guardiola's side from securing the Premier League title in the derby.
LOWS
OCTOBER 2016
Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge ends in humiliation as United get thrashed 4-0 by Antonio Conte's Chelsea.
AUGUST 2017
United lose 2-1 to Mourinho's former club Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup final.
DECEMBER 2017
A 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Championship side Bristol City ends United's League Cup defence.
MARCH 2018
Sevilla knock United out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford after a 0-0 first leg in Spain.
MAY 2018
United lose 1-0 to Chelsea in FA Cup final.
AUGUST 2018
Defeat at Brighton in the second game of the season is followed by a 3-0 loss at home to Tottenham - the worst home defeat of Mourinho's career.
DECEMBER 2018
A last-gasp 1-0 win at home to Young Boys saw United qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, but a final matchday loss at Valencia was followed by a 3-1 reverse to Liverpool at Anfield which sealed Mourinho's fate.
For the first time since leaving Portuguese provincial team Uniao de Leiria for Porto in 2002, Mourinho leaves a club having failed to win a league title.
(Reuters) - Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said the owners of Norwegian club Molde sent him to Old Trafford with their blessing and asked him to try to turn his
Molde will support me if I stay at Manchester United, says
Qatar punished unwelcoming hosts United Arab Emirates 4-0 to reach their first Asian Cup final. ABU DHABI (AFP) - Qatar punished unwelcoming hosts United Arab Emirates 4-0 in a politically charged clash marred by disgraceful behaviour from shoe-throwing fans Tuesday to reach their first Asian Cup
Qatar Thrash UAE 4-0 amid Shoe, Bottle Barrage to Reach Asian
The FIFA/Coca World Ranking - Find out where your team are in the latest standings.
FIFA rankings - Belgium overtake France at No 1 Gibraltar on rise
tv5.espn.com/football/belgium/story/3678879/fifa-rankings-belgium-overtake-france-at-no-1-gibraltar-on-rise
Brazil, one of only two non-European sides in the top 10 along with Uruguay, remain third, followed by Croatia and England. Gibraltar, who only became FIFA members in 2016, rose eight places to their best ranking of 190th thanks to their Nations League wins in Armenia and at home Liechtenstein.
Every major nation's highest and lowest FIFA ranking since
Antonio Conte: Former Chelsea manager named Inter Milan boss
WOLVERHAMPTON, March 17: Wolverhampton Wanderers reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1998 by beating last year's runners-up Manchester United 2-1 with a clinical second-half display in an intense atmosphere at their Molineux stadium on Saturday.
Jimenez, Jota slay Manchester United as Wolves reach FA Cup
Rescuers ended their search on Thursday for the plane carrying Premier League soccer player Emiliano Sala, which disappeared over the English Channel three days ago, after saying there was little
Rescuers end search for missing plane carrying football
Klopp: Liverpool 'did all we could' in Premier League race Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp applauds at the end of their English Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 12, 2019.
Premier League » News » Klopp: Liverpool 'did all we could'
The holy grail for helping youth remain religiously active as young adults has been at home all along: parents. Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the major influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their 20s, according to
10 Tips for Starting a Sticky Faith Youth Ministry from
Rangers crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday after falling 1-0 at Rapid Vienna, while crowd trouble sparked by Eintracht Frankfurt fans marred the German side's win at Lazio.
Europa League: Rangers crash out, Eintracht fans run riot at
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he has forgiven Chelsea coach Marco Ianni for his celebration of Ross Barkley's late equaliser.As Chelsea scored
Man Utd news: Jose Mourinho has his say on Red Devils
Football: Di Maria and Mbappe among the goals as PSG win big again, Neymar to get treatment in Brazil "He's going to become one of the best players in the history of football and I'm trying to
Di Maria brace seals 3-1 win for PSG over Marseille
Eleven Sports hit by poor take-up rate in UK, Football News
Giroud put his club frustrations behind him after his second goal in his second competitive game saw him reach an international milestone, cementing his place among his country's greats. France hammered Iceland 4-0 at the Stade de France, with forwards Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann and defender Samuel Umtiti also among the scorers.
Giroud targets passing Platini's haul after 35th France goal
Hazard marks milestone with early goal to help Belgium win. 2 Min Read. Soccer Football - Euro 2020 Qualifier - Group I - Cyprus v Belgium - GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus - March 24, 2019 Belgium's
Hazard marks milestone with early goal to help Belgium win
Football: Barcelona on a mission to right the wrongs - The Straits Times 18-02-2019 22:00 via "allintitle:Mission" - Google News Football: Barcelona on a mission to right the wrongs The Straits TimesBARCELONA • Clement Lenglet ought to be unscarred by Barcelona's Champions League failure last season, but disappointment reverberates around the
Fantasy Football Interview; A league winner on a mission
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen