Jose Mourinho: Old Trafford’s new sheriff

The “Special One”: Jose Mourinho has been unveiled as the new Manchester United FC boss.

The appointment is no news to the soccer community as rumors of his imminent appointment at the end of the 2015/ 2016 season has been flying around since his Chelsea sack in the first quarter of 2016 and also when Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United army continued to show non-convincing performances in domestic and continental games till the end of the 2015/ 2016 season

Ironically, Jose Mourinho was an assistant to the recently sacked Louis Van Gaal (LVG) while at Barcelona FC between 1998- 2000. Mourinho claims he learnt a lot from his ex-boss while at Barcelona,so let’s hope he has also learnt a lot from the factors that led to his ex-boss’ recent uneventful departure from Manchester United.

Mourinho is known to be a winner who can guarantee any team at least one major trophy every season and that is just what Manchester United need right now to regain its lost glory, following their ‘miserable’ affairs with sacked David Moyes and LVG. In the past five years since Sir Alex Ferguson rested the mantle at the club, Manchester have managed to win only ONE major trophy which is a huge contrast to first 5 years before then when Ferguson called the shots. Between 2008 – 2013, Alex Ferguson won Manchester United eight major trophies.

The “Chosen one – Mourinho” is know to favor defensive counter-attacking football tactics- something close to LVG’s infamous tactics which are a contrast to Manchester United’s free flowing, bulldozing-attacking football that was the norm under Ferguson. It is left to see if Mourinho will compromise his tactics to win trophies for Manchester United, the ‘Red Devils’ way.

Mourinho, the ‘patient dog’ has finally gotten his ‘biggest bone’ by ending up at Old Trafford after he was denied the chance to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 when he made it known to the world that the Manchester job was his dream job. Everyone expected him to be the next boss at Old Trafford then since he was rated as one of the best three soccer managers (Ferguson inclusive) at that time and also because he had a hungry winning mentality which is believed to be more fiercesome than Ferguson’s.

Like always, it is expected that Mourinho will build his ‘killer squad’ team from the scratch, while making use of the best elements from the current team. And like always when Mourinho takes over at a new club, lots of familiar faces at the club leave and are replaced with new faces that would fit Mourinho’s trophy-winning masterplans. One player who will be all jittery right now at the appointment of Jose Mourinho,is Juan Mata. Juan Mata was shown the exit door at Chelsea FC in January 2014 after Jose Mourinho took over in June 2013, even though Mata was the club’s “player of the season” the previous two consecutive seasons.Another set of players that will face uncertain futures at Old Trafford are the young players with little or no top level soccer experience as tradition states that Mourinho never has never been the type to experiment with them unless you are super outstanding as a youth soccer player.

Mourinho’s arrival will signal the highest rivalry experienced between Manchester United and their blue neighbours; Manchester City FC. These two teams have a 135-year rivalry that has not improved since the Sheikhs took over the finances of Manchester City in 2008.Since the arrival of the Oil Sheikhs, Manchester City has stepped up its game and thrown dust at Manchester United’s dominance over the years. With Mourinho now the new boss at Manchester United and his sworn arch-rival; Pep Guardiola now the new boss of Manchester City, one can expect the rivalry between both clubs to be taken to a whole new level now as tactical and financial strengths will be required to prove superiority. Mourinho’s  classic rivalry with Arsene Wenger is expected to continue in a respectable manner since Mourinho was humbled last season with his unexplainable performance and Wenger has finally starting winning trophies again with a paused in the just concluded 2015/ 2016 season. Unfortunately for Rafael Benitez, he will not be in the best position to trade words with Mourinho for a while though they are both in England again.’Utmost Silence’ will be the best advice anyone could offer Benitez right now as regards dealing with Mourinho during the next 12 months when Newcastle FC might gain promotion to the EPL.

Manchester United faithfuls are in for a memorable journey with Jose Mourinho as his record speaks for him and silently expresses what they can expect from him. The players who remain at Manchester United during Mourinho’s time should expect that their souls are required if they ever want to be in Mourinho’s starting eleven list or occasionally as subs. The board at Manchester United will also be required to make ‘crazy’ funds available for Mourinho as his teams never come cheap and he keeps buying top-class players to achieve his unimaginable trophy-winning goals.

Mourinho might most likely make Old Trafford his final soccer home and temple as Stamford Bridge is no longer an option. Mourinho knows what is expected of him since the English Premier League (EPL) is a familiar terrain to him, so he needs to hit the ground running with no excuses of any sorts. All prediction foresee a formidable partnership between Jose Mourinho and Manchester United for many years to come.

Jose Mourinho’s fantasy just came true…let’s hope he helps Manchester United fans to sustain theirs of being the most successful English soccer club ever. Do you think Mourinho will succeed and exceed three seasons at Old Trafford as the new sheriff?