Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho criticized his own players once again openly in front of the media recently after their Europa League loss against Fenerbahçe. It was the second time that the manager vented his frustrations publicly on his players in what has been only a few days and 5 months. The repeated criticism has seen him losing the dressing room at a few clubs from where he got the boot previously. Manchester United could soon be the next club who will feel the same way the others did if the Portuguese continues on the same path.
Since the last season when he suffered at Chelsea as the results started to go awry and the team at one point dropping down to the 16th place of the table, the manager stated that his players had ‘betrayed’ him. The statement proved to be the final nail in the coffin as it turned out to be his last match in charge of Chelsea in his second stint at the Stamford Bridge.
His intense, provocative, demanding and, at times, bizarre style of management laced with mind games is brilliant when it works but can also be a disaster – as we have witnessed a few times now – when it goes wrong. The worrying thing is that it is when the manager is coming to the end of his tenure, these problems start to happen, with the public criticism of his players being one of the first warning signs.
During his time at Real Madrid things happened in a similar fashion and there were reports in which Daily Star reporter David Woods claimed that a close friend of Mourinho informed him that in his final spell at the Bernabéu, the manager had a good relationship with just two players of the club.
After Manchester United lost to Manchester City, the Portuguese criticized his new signing Henrik Mkhitaryan along with Jesse Lingard while singling out Erik Bailly at the back as the cause of the defensive problems in the post-match interview. The same tone followed again after losses to Watford and Fenerbahçe.
Recently, after United won 3-1 against Swansea City at Old Trafford, the manager’s criticism of Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling, was baffling to say the least. Having been one of his targets to come under fire previously, the England fullback was once again targeted by his boss who claimed that the players are not prepared to go to the limits and play through the pain for the sake of their team.
With the confidence given a serious shove, much like the one he got from Arsene Wenger at the touchline, Jose Mourinho, now abandoned by his incredible luck looks to be on the fringes once again with his new job being in the balance within 6 months of his arrival at Old Trafford. If he continues to resort to his usual blame game, criticizing his players and everybody else other than himself for every single loss like he is doing now, he will be losing out once again his dressing room of the club which has appointed him to be its manager.
