Sometimes football is more complicated than it seems from the outside.
But, much of the time, we feel that chairmen, chief executives and managers over think situations that should be simple.
Take Jose Mourinho to Manchester United.
Many fans of Manchester United think that he would do a great job if he took over at the club.
Others, like us, think that his appointment is vital in order to put the club back at the top of the pile and to avoid a Liverpool like abyss for a United side that continues to fall off the pace.
Then there are those who think that he is too brash, too disrespectful to be a spokesman for the club.
But we are certain that the latter contingent of people would change their minds almost overnight, if Jose did take the job.
Because what Jose Mourinho has, and what Ed Woodward arguably lacks, is decisiveness – the ability to make a big (and right) decision under pressure.
More than anything right now, Manchester United need results. They need to consolidate their position in the top four otherwise they will have a shocker in the summer trying to persuade top players to come to a club which isn’t playing in The Champions League.
Few would argue that Mourinho is the closest thing in football to a guarantee of results.
You may want to refute this by pointing to his second spell in charge of Chelsea.
But, unlike LvG, Mourinho won the title in that doomed stint, despite all the problems. Furthermore, the vast majority of the Chelsea fans were desperate for him to stay, even turning on their own players in protest at his sacking.
Then there is this idea that Mourinho doesn’t espouse attacking football. In response we would say:
– It couldn’t be worse than what Manchester United fans are watching right now
– Did anyone see Chelsea when Duff and Robben were playing on the wings with the likes of Crespo and Drogba up top? We did and it was anything but boring.
– Even last season Chelsea were wonderful to watch in the first half of the season. Jose likes to build from the back but that doesn’t mean he is anti-attacking. Far from it.
A narrow 2-1 home win against Swansea seems to have put Woodward and LvG at ease. But this just shows have far the bar has dropped. It’s simply not good enough.
Unless LvG waves a magic wand then we can expect the same sort of fairly solid at the back, fairly turgid in attack football at Old Trafford until the Dutchman leaves.
Overall there seems to be a consensus at Manchester United that LvG is just having a rough patch and that Jose would ruin the traditions of attacking football at the club.
But the bottom line is that Louis van Gaal has made United more boring to watch than I can ever remember and isn’t even getting results.
Even Mourinho critics would have to admit that he would tick at least one of those boxes.
Ed Woodward may think that he is doing the right thing by keeping LvG on.
But, by overlooking Mourinho – who we feel is ready to build a long-term empire at the right club – Woodward could be destroying the club.
