Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho under fire for his ‘boring football’

It’s been a bad couple of days for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

In the space of 72 hours he has gone from preparing his side on Sunday for the biggest Manchester derby in years to being accused today of playing “boring football” by his predecessor Louis Van Gaal.

In between, Mourinhao has watched his side lose 2-1 to their biggest rivals, seen the gap at the top of the Premier League widen to 11 points and been involved in the soon-to-be-legendary “battle of the tunnel”.

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The aftermath of the Manchester derby has given UK media one of the biggest stories of the year – and Mourinho is right at the centre of it.

From the Daily Mail to the Daily Telegraph, the Old Trafford brawl has taken over the newspaper back pages. It’s also the main headline on almost every sports news website.

Mourinho, who’s reported to have reacted furiously to being struck by a water bottle, is under scrutiny not just for his part in the tunnel battle but also for his side’s performance against City. Outwitted, outplayed and outfought by Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders, United were well beaten by a City side that look odds-on to win the title next year.

Another reason the Manchester United boss is under fire is because of his blatant hypocrisy regarding over-celebrating. The Mail reports that Mourinho took major offence at hearing City players celebrating their win at Old Trafford. Irritated by their “chanting” and “mocking”, he’s said to have stormed towards the away dressing room saying “you have no respect”.

The Mail’s chief sports writer, Oliver Holt, is not the only journalist to point out Mourinho’s hypocrisy when celebrating a victory. Writing on Twitter, Holt said: “Mourinho’s got previous about telling people how they should celebrate. Got upset because Conte was pleased Chelsea won. But Mourinho is a man who humiliates the vanquished.”

What follows is a Twitter thread of Mourinho “humiliating the vanquished”.

Meanwhile, his tactical nous is also under the spotlight. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Charlie Eccleshare says that before the Old Trafford derby Mourinho stoked the fires by accusing Guardiola’s team of “diving and tactical fouling”.

But on the pitch it’s the Manchester City manager who got the plaudits by making “bold calls” that paid off with the 2-1 victory. Eccleshare said: “Mourinho’s hostility towards Guardiola will ensure the rivalry remains a major talking point, but in purely footballing terms it’s barely a contest.”

Ultimately, City could pull away from United as the kings of Manchester, the Premier League and even Europe. The blue half of Manchester have a better manager, better squad and are building for the long-term.

With this in mind, the Daily Telegraph’s Jason Burt believes that Mourinho is “not the man for Manchester United”. He says the Portuguese “has the ego, but not the temperament or tactics”.

“There is no argument that Mourinho is not effective,” Burt writes. “He is. Hugely so. Twenty-five trophies show that, he is a serial winner and he is one of the greatest managers of all-time who has played some brilliant football. His status is secure.

“But his continued, inherent caution comes at a price and there is that grating sense that, longer term, United is not the right club for him. He has the force of personality, the ego and the profile to carry it off – and that is fundamental at a club of United’s dimensions – but not, it appears, the temperament or the tactics.”