José Mourinho has been talking to a French newspaper reporter. During his conversation with said reporter, it is reported that he mentioned that Manchester United would not be his last club.
As a result, many people have trekked down the age old route of putting two and two together and hoping that the answer will be four. Other than in pure mathematical terms it rarely is!
It has to be remembered that Mourinho isn’t British so, as much as he has become an anglophile, it is not his country of birth so it is hardly likely to be his first choice when it comes to final career decisions just prior to retirement.
Even if he was to stay at United for many years to come it is still highly unlikely that he would then retire in England. Much as he likes the country he actually hates the climate, which is entirely understandable.
The other train of thought following his recent revelation is that he has been upset with the board at United in general and Ed Woodward in particular.
That, I am afraid to say, is not earth-shattering news. He has fallen out with the hierarchy, at some stage, in most of the clubs where he has been manager. United just happen to have one of the easiest to fall out with because he is in a job which is beyond his comprehension and ability.
He has let down three managers in the transfer windows since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, with his lack of knowledge and know-how.
He didn’t get the targeted players for David Moyes. He allowed van Gaal to spend fortunes on average players as though money was no object, (which, even to a club like United, it is eventually). He then improved somewhat when Mourinho took over but, bafflingly, failed to get Ivan Perišić despite vastly overpaying for the likes of Lukaku and Matić, (who now seem like good business since the Neymar transfer and with the starts they have had to their United careers).
So it is unlikely that Mourinho has said he will leave at some stage because of the board or Woodward. Every club has a hierarchy and the majority of them know little about football, a fact which causes almost constant friction between themselves and whoever the manager my be.
No, Mourinho has said in the past that he would like to manage in France. The only club who could match his ambition financially and size-wise after United is PSG.
If he can win trophies at Old Trafford and leave on a high, he could slide seamlessly into the manager’s chair in Paris and have a relatively easy ride whereby he would have almost unlimited funding. His only real challenge would be to win the Champion’s League as the French league should not prove a problem to a manager of his calibre.
So he could have a few years filling his retirement fund with even more money that he won’t have time to spend and living a reasonably relaxed life in France.
This is what he was explaining to the reporter. Nothing sinister, nothing we didn’t already know. This is how to put two and two together and get four as a result.
Post by Iain Anderson at whysayanything.com