Mourinho's frustration – The Economic Times

Around the Manchester United camp this summer, some are now actively moving away from the path of José Mourinho, while he cuts a figure so frustrated looking for answers that he does not get . The questions that it poses are always the same, but the urgency has changed just like the tone. Who are United to sign, and when? And – something that is now a source of irritation for Mourinho, because of the way he is becoming more connected to the first – who will they sell, and when?

"Everything is really bad," said the Portuguese last week, especially his mood and that of the club. That might change if Mourinho gets the answers he's been looking for, but the biggest questions hanging over the Portuguese rule will surely persist. The first line of inquiry is how frustrating this pre-season is now framed, and how much can be read in any pre-season.

Is the theory of his troubled third season true? Is he stuck in this cycle, and thus stuck in the past as a manager? The 2018-2019 season will essentially serve as a referendum on all this. The question itself deserves a much grander debate but, for the moment, it is impossible not to notice that there are many parallels with another key Mourinho pre-season. It was at a different place, but at the same time: this third preseason in this second pass to Chelsea. Just like at the time, the actual performances of the matches this time around were poor and uninteresting, and were therefore supplemented by the manager's complaints about the transfers. Just as then, too, the spirit, it is also impossible not to accept Mourinho at a considerable point. He made specific requests for transfers for the last windows, and the club only saw them from time to time.

One thing they have not really seen is sales, which causes all the more problems in Mourinho, given that it affects the budget and the business. sharpening of his team. There are about seven players that he wanted to get rid of for some windows that are still there, and that seem to stay. This does not correspond to the effectiveness that Mourinho is trying to infuse to his team. On the other hand, Ivan Perisic's explosion at the World Cup only serves to highlight the manager's understandable irritation in terms of purchases.

United did not have it for the difference of a few million last summer, and the Croatian is now valued at many more, having proved precisely how his style could make the difference for the Mourinho system . The fact that Perisic is 30 in a week means that United will not pay for it now, but this approach does not apply to someone who just turned 29 a week ago. to Gareth Bale.

This is because of the "star power" of the Real Madrid striker and this still reflects a lot about United's seemingly confusing approach. A common source of irritation for Mourinho has been the way the club so often pursues players with certain "names" rather than those of certain qualities that he wants. If, for example, they had reached an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo – although this was never considered realistic this summer – the director would not have planned that the funds needed to get him out of his budget .

Mourinho wants a winger like Willian or Perisic – or even Ante Rebic – as well as an experienced center-half, but sees nothing really coming in any place. He became so exasperated towards defenders that sources claim that he even considered adding to his list of targets Gary Cahill – a brilliant lieutenant for him, but now a player who has showed signs of decline. And it is also here that the question arises about the possible decline of Mourinho, to find out if the spark has disappeared – and not only in this window.