Sky sources: No imminent change expected with manager's position
Monday 17 December 2018 17:12, UK
Manchester United fans "have had enough" of Jose Mourinho's tenure in charge at Old Trafford, according to United We Stand editor Andy Mitten.
Mourinho's charges suffered their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign against Liverpool on Sunday as Jurgen Klopp's side returned to the top of the league table and stretched their gap over their rivals to 19 points.
Despite the latest setback of the season, Mourinho offered a staunch defence of his players, amid a question over whether he retained the full backing of the squad, and insisted the club could still secure a Champions League spot.
This football club is failing at the moment.
Asked who is at particular fault for United's failures this term, Mitten told Sky Sports News: "The blame falls not just with the players and Jose Mourinho but across the board.
"The recruitment at the club is failing. Commercially the club is very successful. But they have all got to take the share of their responsibility. This football club is failing at the moment.
"It is one of the three biggest clubs in the world. It has got the second biggest wage bill in the world. Quite early in the season the league title challenge was already over. United have been nowhere near good enough.
"They don't score enough goals. They concede too many goals. The defeat at Anfield was expected. That is the sad thing - it wasn't a one-off. Anything can happen in one-off games.
"The fans have had enough. They are very frustrated and that is because expectations are very high. A lot of them, have been spoiled on success.
"But I don't think it is unreasonable of them to have high expectations. It is Manchester United. Seventh place, eighth place, sixth place is just not good enough."
You are now getting 80 per cent of United fans in online polls saying they think it would be a good idea to get rid of the manager. But there is no obvious plan B.
United were drawn to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 on Monday and Mitten, who admits he would love for Mourinho to mastermind a revival, doesn't believe replacing the Portuguese boss mid-season would be a simple task.
"There is a sliding support from the match-going fans for Jose Mourinho," he added. "They were behind him at the start of the season - not necessarily because they believed he would turn things around but because they hoped he would do.
"You are now getting 80 per cent of United fans in online polls saying they think it would be a good idea to get rid of the manager. But there is no obvious plan B.
"People are just plucking names out who they would like to replace him. If you want [Mauricio] Pochettino to come from Tottenham it is highly unlikely that he is going to come in the middle of the season.
"[The fans] can't understand that so many talented players are performing so poorly on a consistent basis. They pay good money to watch the team and they are entitled to have those opinions."
France's World Cup winner Paul Pogba and Mourinho's relationship has come under particular scrutiny, with the midfielder an unused substitute at Anfield, having begun the campaign as the captain.
"2018 has not been good for the relationship between the pair of them. They have had their ups and downs and there have been plenty of downs.
"It is so frustrating because if they banged their heads together and worked for the better of each other then it would be far more productive - you would think - then having a relationship which is fractious."
He added: "It is just not working out. I was delighted when he was made captain for the first game of the season against Leicester. I thought this is the way forward. Give him some responsibility.
"But he has been sidelined now. He has made it clear to some people he wants to leave the club. It just doesn't look good. This is a man who Manchester United hoped to re-build around the club because he was such a talented player.
"He is winning trophies for France but he is not coming close to coming close to winning the big ones - the ones Manchester United should be competing for at Old Trafford."
