Manchester United must resist replacing Alex Ferguson with Jose Mourinho

Impressive CV: but Jose Mourinho is not the right man to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, says James Olley
11 April 2012

Succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United is just about the tallest order in modern day football but if the club are to stay true to their traditions, they must resist the obvious choice in Jose Mourinho.

Logic dictates the brash Portuguese would be the ideal candidate to replace Sir Alex, who has reportedly suggested this week that he will end a 25-year association with United at the end of next season, a few months before his 70th birthday.

Mourinho has the raw arrogance and unswerving conviction in his methods to drag the club out from under the shadow of the greatest British manager of all time and into a new era.

Equally his CV makes impressive reading with League titles in three countries and of course that 2004 Champions League victory while in charge at FC Porto, the route to which included a stop in Manchester and an extremely fortuitous away goal win at Old Trafford.

Mourinho has excellent knowledge of the English lead, a demeanour that would command instant respect in the dressing room and an ability to influence referees through mind games or otherwise in a manner that Ferguson has trademarked, which most obviously manifests itself in the added time (or Fergie time') United are renowned for receiving.

But United are one of the most successful teams in history and the fact such success has come recently means they occupy a place in an extremely small strata of clubs who can choose how they want to win.

Arsene Wenger operates such a philosophy at Arsenal (although the pressure to abandon his principles will intensify after a fifth trophyless season), Real Madrid have their galaticos, Barcelona their purity and in choosing Ferguson's successor, United can prove they too are "més que un club".

Sir Bobby Charlton once claimed United's ideals, which extended as far back as he could remember, was to provide entertainment for the working man who grafted all week to afford to see his heroes play.

United have a history of cavalier football and Ferguson took on those mores and applied a winning mentality that had been largely missing since the days of Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.

The swashbuckling Treble winning side of 1999 swept all before them in glorious fashion and although Ferguson's preferred 4-2-3-1 system in big matches has made them less expansive, United continue to be regarded alongside Arsenal as the finest footballing side in the Premier League.

Mourinho is the antithesis of all this. If only his football matched his press conferences. His teams have a functional style that is awkwardly juxtaposed with United's hallmarks while his record in bringing through young players is virtually non-existent.

Regardless of whether the Red Knights are successful in their takeover of the club or not, Mourinho is unlikely to be given huge funds to overhaul a squad with a number of veterans, a lot of youngsters and not a lot in between.

He is a galvaniser of men – someone who can turn good players into great ones and make believers out of those who hitherto felt it was their destiny to fall short. Perhaps he is arguably a better tactician than Ferguson.

But there is always a feeling with Mourinho that he is looking to the next job, the next challenge, the next country to conquer. Such thinking is not conducive to United, who would ideally like to keep their pre-eminence for another decade with a new man at the helm.

The club are in a position to resist the temptation to look abroad and just as they have brought through – and often purchased – predominantly British players, such a mantra should extend to its choice in managers.

For so often it has been argued that British managers are overlooked in favour of their seemingly more illustrious and mysterious foreign counterparts but United have at least two outstanding candidates from these shores.

David Moyes has earned a crack at a club with greater resources that Everton after displaying an impressive consistency within strict constraints and Ferguson, who will no doubt be consulted on his successor, once attempted to convince the Scot to join him as his No2 when in charge at Preston.

Martin O'Neill was long considered favourite for the job until Mourinho left Chelsea and resurfaced at Inter Milan and his work with Aston Villa mirrors United's traditions much closer – a largely British squad that plays attacking football.

His European record leaves some room for doubt although Celtic would kill for what he gave them now and there may be questions over his training methods given how Villa seem to have run out of steam for the second season in a row.

Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes represent the Pep Guardiola-style alternative and although they both have more experience, rarely does such a gamble on ex-players reap such dividends as it has for Barcelona.

But O'Neill, perhaps more than Moyes, would represent the romantic choice. United are of course under no obligation to give a British manager a chance. But if the Green and Gold scarves, the style with substance and the proud history really signify a club with morals beyond winning, then Mourinho may not be the man.

Redknapp's masterstroke

Guaranteeing fourth place may seem somewhat foolhardy but, worse than that, it appears something of a curse.

Rafael Benitez famously assured Liverpool's beleaguered followers in December that the last Champions League spot would be theirs, yet bereft of Fernando Torres, they are left praying for an implosion from Tottenham of huge proportions, even by their standards.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini promised supporters they would finish best of the rest in the wake of that hugely deflating 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, presumably as an attempt to display defiance and boost morale, only for Spurs to shock Chelsea at White Hart Lane hours later.

So, despite Spurs beating Arsenal and the Blues, Redknapp saying "finishing fifth would be a great achievement" was probably his biggest masterstroke of the last 10 days.

* For live updates on Arsenal matches and the latest news, follow me on www.twitter.com/JamesOlley

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