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Paul McGrath
WHEN Spurs host Manchester United today, it’s not just two of England’s most famous football clubs meeting.
« The Special One » seems frustrated that his Tottenham outfit isn’t that can do what his old teams in Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan are doing with their eyes closed.
That means going one goal ahead and defending powerfully until you have the second in the break and made it 2-0 have.
But did the game go on without Jose adjusting? He only clings to what he knows best.
After all, it has been almost 18 years since we first saw him when Porto Martin defeated UNeills Celtic in the UEFA Cup final in Seville .
Back then, no one had heard of “counter-pressing” and no one would agree with the idea that a team could win a big tournament with six midfielders and no strikers. But that’s how Spain won Euro 2012.
The game is changing. Now is it a problem that Jose hasn’t changed his idea of applying his defensive-first philosophy?
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And he didn’t change Spurs in his picture either. Maybe it’s because of Covid or because Spurs are still paying construction costs for their new stadium.
But Jose has been strangely quiet on the transfer market since he settled in north London – and as for the guys leaving , as well as the arrival.
Today is the heartbeat of the Spurs squad Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min, who all played under Mauricio Pochettino. Jose has not followed his usual technique of getting « his » players into a locker room at all.
It also appears that his occasional dressing room videos, his full-blown TV series last year, and the manager’s occasional explosion against the players in the papers didn’t help.
That stuff never works for a manager. The changing room is sacred. Everyone can say something there. Unless it comes out publicly, you know you’re dealing with guys you can trust.
Alex Ferguson, in his golden days, his winning days with Manchester United, yelled and yelled and yelled players in the locker room out.
You would expect to see their names in the papers the next day and tell the manager how bad they played.
It never happened. Instead, the next day’s headlines were about an argument Fergie had with Arsene Wenger or Gerard Houllier, or whoever he wanted to try, in order to distract himself from the terrible performance of his team.
Not a word about how badly Manchester United had played as a team or how badly individuals had played. No wonder Alex Ferguson’s players loved him.
Perhaps Jose should have taken a sheet out of Pep Guardiola’s book for his own sake.
After Pep decided to leave Barcelona in the summer of 2012, he insisted that he would take a year out of the game.
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He wouldn’t be able to do that in the 2012/13 season and instead recharge his batteries by living in New York for a year and learning English.
Everyone thought Pep was just trying to win the price with that who wanted to hire him after these wonderful years in the Nou camp.
But no, the Catalan kept his word, took a year and started his life as Bayern Munich boss in the summer of 2013.
Jose has occasionally had time off from management, but always after being fired from Chelsea, Manchester United or whoever.
He has never « taken a career break » to find a better word – never, when he controls when he goes and what he does with this free time.
While Jose is fighting with Spurs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not fighting in that direction with Manchester United.
But neither do I see any signs that the glory days for the Red Devils are on the horizon.
I mean United would run a run for the next five seasons where they’d win two Premier Leagues, an FA Cup and a Champions League.
A knowledgeable Manchester United supporter expects this to happen between 2021 and 2026 will happen at Ole?
It hurts me to criticize a club legend. Ole was a legend on the pitch but that doesn’t bring things down.
It will be interesting to see in the summer if United launch an offer to sign Harry Kane.
United did done in my time and in these Fergie days. They went out and brought in the best player for England’s biggest club.
In the summer of 2019, after the final appearance in the Champions League, it was time to buy two or three more high-profile players and kick off .
Instead, the stadium-handicapped club turned down Pochettino’s request to do just that, and he’s been in free fall ever since.
You need victory today to compete in a European competition, while United needs the win to finish at least second after Manchester City.
United has had a period of decades in which they did not have to play second fiddle to the sky-blue half of Manchester.
Since Alex Ferguson Old Trafford left in the summer of 2013, City is undoubtedly the front runner.
And I see no sign that will change anytime soon. This should really worry anyone who is a Manchester Red.
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