Reading the articles, following the news, and trying to get the grip of the situation at Manchester United is a big difficult scenario. It’s all about management control and a power battle between the football manager, the board members and players.
Mourinho has a few allies who are there to support, but will the Manchester United through and through be loyal to their pear or just follow the stream at the club, since their love for the club goes above anything else.
The battle with Paul Pogba and his situation, the reason for the “silent” conflict that has been there for a long period, but has resulted in a compromise making Pogba assistant captain and giving him responsibility, which he probably struggles with in his current situation.
Pogba signed to bring trophies back to Old Trafford and hopefully be able to carry the load left behind by Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who took pressure of young players by taking the room and keeping the press happy.
Pogba is a big star, but he is not the one really taking the room in the way Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic did, and is it possible for him to carry the burden and be there 100 % for his manager as Wayne Rooney was in his last season at Manchester United, despite not playing giving back what you need to do as a proven professional.
Mourinho managed to bring Champions League football back to Manchester United in his first season. He brought in two trophies, The EFL Cup and the Europa League. The step now is to establish a structure that will guarantee a top four position and be in the chase for the Premier League trophy.
The signing of Paul Pogba, and his presence is what Mourinho thought would be the ideal plan for that, but again when things gets problematic as it is today and you don’t really know who is in charge when you come down to the serious discussions.
When Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge at Old Trafford no one doubted who was the strongest face and who in the end had the last word, that is a balance that has nothing to do with football but about totally other matters and you cannot really solve it if you have two strong heads running each other to the grown, one has to bow.
Jose Mourinho will not bow, he will go into the fence with both hands and if the fence has electricity he will just sit there until he is finished. With Ed Woodward upsetting the power balance at the club, and he wants to have a say in footballing matters, then Jose Mourinho will have to accept the fact that he cannot always decide who will be for sale or not, and if the football manager no matter what has the control do decide, then you will never get a good situation at a football club.
To see an accounted as the “power house” at Manchester United is a real pity, but the only way to get the “power” away is not to keep both “boys”, but decide on who should be in power and who should leave the building. The problem is that Woodward is a person with an aura that never will disappear and as long as he has something to say about this, one of the best managers in the trade will be the one “leaving the building”.
So the owners at Manchester United needs to decide if they will give “the power” to Jose Mourinho, and that is to sack Ed Woodward, because you cannot move away power in a football club, keeping the “strongest dog” and taking away his “power” which always will be there, or he must decide himself to learn how to not be “in power”.
The problems at Manchester United could also be down to the insertion of a young Michael Carrick as assistant, and no longer Rui Faria who left after last season. Carrick is a bridge between the club and the manager, but believe me Carrick is not one following Mourinho if the bridge breakes, he will always be Manchester United. Still there are two other Portuguese coaches on the assistant schene, but the balance is different.
Faria and Mourinho together is a totally different management team than Jose Mourinho alone with other people. The safety net, the one to trust in the days of difficulties is no longer at the club, and that is a difficult one for Mourinho. Faria has a fantastic list of honors to show, during his time as assistant for Jose.
We all could see how Sir Alex did his tricks when players became “too big” and they got their own ideas, then they were finished and no accountant had any say in the decision. Give the power to Jose Mourinho and you will get rewarded, getting a new man in will not upset balance and as David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal experienced they were both without power when their days became difficult.
What all Manchester United fans would hope for was that Paul Pogba continued to show his form, not being humiliated by Jose Mourinho, and that everyone was happy, but power battles are not always fun and could result in bad decisions made on feelings and not on analytical premises, but to sack Jose Mourinho would be the worst thing that could happen, he is close to getting this totally right.
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