Sunday Supplement journalists have torn into Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho with some frankly mocking comments on his recent behaviour.
The Portuguese did come across as somewhat unhinged this week as his side lost 3-0 at home to Tottenham on Monday evening, prompting some angry antics in his press conference afterwards.
Eager to remind everyone of how much he’s won, Mourinho boasted about his past record, despite Sky Sports reporting that the likes of the Mirror’s John Cross think he’s past his peak.
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Mourinho has not won a Premier League title since 2014/15 with Chelsea, and his side collapsed the following season as he was given the sack by December.
The 55-year-old has not exactly impressed at United so far, finishing sixth in his first season and picking up three minor trophies, before finishing a distant second to Manchester City and finishing empty-handed the following year.
Cross was not impressed by Mourinho’s antics, and those views were echoed by the Sunday Times’ Jonathan Northcroft.
Cross said: “The last two press conferences from this week make him look like an angry, desperate figure who has lost his powers. No wonder he got irked by Spurs fans singing ‘You’re not special any more’, because when he behaves like that he isn’t.
“The way United collapsed on Monday night after Spurs scored their first goal was horrific. It would be embarrassing for any manager, so where on earth he thought he was on safe ground to come in and say he was so happy with the performance, is just beyond me. It struck me when he stood in front of the Stretford End, desperately picked up a scarf and did some PR act trying to engage with the fans, that it was remarkable.
“I’m a huge admirer of Mourinho but he’s not the manager that he was. To say ‘judge me on my previous successes’, it’s beyond irony because he pings everyone else for living on past glories.”
Northcroft added: “He’s lost what he used to have. Among those things, he’s lost control of the agenda. That persona, the special one, doesn’t work when your results aren’t special. He’s lost his authority, and Friday was another example.
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Loading ...“On Monday he was trying to project happiness when he arrived at Old Trafford, there was an interview before the game where he was smiling in that slightly forced way, but he lost it at the end. On Friday it was the same, he came in and was grinning, United tried to move the press conference on very quickly, and he was given the open goal of being asked something like ‘How much do you enjoy managing Manchester United?’
“All he had to do was say something nice about Manchester United, but instead he said ‘I’m at one of the greatest clubs in the world, but I have to say I’m one of the greatest managers in the world’ which just opened the doors. He was then asked if he was still one of the greatest – and that presses his buttons.
He’s upset about the praise we lavish on Pep and Klopp, I believe it really irks him on a personal level. So he tried to belittle the journalist who asked it by bringing up philosophy, but if it was a joke it fell flat on its face and came across as a bitter and slightly mad bloke.”
