MANCHESTER UNITED'S MISSING KEY TO BECOMING CHAMPIONS

 
     

   Third time is the charm! Third time has to be the charm. At least as far as Manchester United fans and Mourinho are concerned. Three seasons ago Manchester United, emerging out three consistent back to back seasons without a major trophy employed one the most successful Managers in European history, Jose Mourinho, to return the Red Devils back to elite hights, major trophies winning and playing quality football. 

      Has Jose Mourinho delivered what the manager has been brought in to do? If Mourinho has not delivered on his agenda to win Manchester United a major Trophy for the past three seasons , then, most Manchester United fans must be wondering: what is the main reason why such a manager such as Mourinho, who is known to be so successful under all the previous clubs he has ever Managed, has failed to succeed in terms of winning a major trophy in Manchester United and why is Mourinho still the manager of Manchester United after his consistent deterioration in charge at the helm at Old Trafford?

       However, if anyone looks deeper into the situation of consistent lack of Trophies Old Trafford is currently facing, two questions might be asked, is this situation entirely the Managers fault and is Mourinho really falling or are other Premier League managers simply stepping up their game? A closer look at Manchester United's winning rate compared to the clubs lossing rate shows that Mourinho has slowly improved the clubs victories under his regime yet the manager has seemingly been painted as a failure on the eyes of the Manchester United fans. 

       Remaining on the topic of winning rates, winning rate play a vital in telling the story of any clubs journey to successfully be crowned Premier League champions and Manchester United's winning percentage has, undoubtedly, shot up with Mourinho as head manager. No one can deny that Manchester United has had Massive improvement under Jose Mourinho’s reign but the question that is possibly running through the minds of Manchester United fans will be: at what point will all the good football result to a trophy? For the past three seasons in the Premier League, Manchester United has failed to break through a situation some people have started to refer to as “Second Place Limbo’. Constantly falling short of winning the trophy even after the club had played some bright football for the majority of the season.   So who or what is standing in Mourinho’s way from winning at least one of either a Premier League trophy or a Champions League trophy as Manchester United manager? A few rumors surfacing suggests that the one major obstacle standing in the way of Jose Mourinho’s agenda to win trophies as a Manchester United manager is the Manchester United players themselves. 



       To explain this, here is a question Manchester United fans should consider to explain Mourinho’s chain of thought: Mourinho does not look happy as a Manchester United because he does not have enough players that will challenge his decision all for the benefit of the team. Next question: does Mourinho like players such as Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku?  Yes because these players, just as Mourinho questions their decisions on the pitch, these players will always attempt to make little changes to the managers' strategy especially when these players feel the managers' strategy is not working on the pitch. In other words, Mourinho is not happy because he was not getting the best out of the Manchester United players who will choose to sit back and enforce the managers game plan instead of being creative on the field during a game. Manchester United are most successful when the players and the manager are all on the same page pushing each other forward to improve and be at their best. Even Sir Alex Ferguson expressed these thoughts during an interview after his retirement and that is one of Manchester United's' current issues, the players and the manager does not appear to be on the same page. Players and Manager communication is an essential part of success in football and Manchester United need to communicate better another to succeed. 

   Finally, Communication breakdown can play a vital part in the success of any sports person or in the case of Manchester United, break down in communication can subsequently play a vital role on the road to glory for any sports team. Good communication and good understanding between two parties can be the key to success or failure. Last season, communication breakdown inside the Manchester United locker room. Remember the reported fight between players? Miscommunication or misunderstanding was undoubtedly one of the major reason why Manchester United failed to capture any significant trophies between the domestic competitions held in England (the Premier League, The FA Cup) and major competitions held in Europe (The UEFA Champions League). 


      Most Manchester United fans might still remember the brawl that took place inside the tunnel between Manchester United players and Manchester City players and managers alike. After Manchester City had won the Derby at Old Trafford, winning the Premier League in the process, Mourinho lost his cool. The Manchester United manager walked into the Manchester City away dressing room and requested the away team lower their celebration as a sign of respect for Old Trafford. Mourinho received a bottle thrown to his head and the Manchester United players came to the aid of their Manager and the confrontation resulted in a fight . What kind of problems can play a factor in stopping Manchester United from lifting a trophy once again this season?  Agitation, frustration, playing poor football which lacks pure quality when the team ventures forward in attack. All these problems have cost Manchester United trophies in recent past and for Manchester United to successful a Trophy after such a long barren period, Mourinho has to keep control of the players, draw strategies that will result in quality football played by the team for large parts of this season.

Mourinho has to make sure to have the right players suited for each match playing out on the pitch rather than sitting on the bench. Different players suit different matches and the manager has to understand which players are right for the match. Picking the same starting XI for most of the season will only result in losing the belief the fans have in the manager and the belief the players have in the manager.