Jose Mourinho: A huge personality for a huge club

Manchester United has appointed a wounded animal with a ferocious appetite to prove some people wrong, writes Tony Leen

Manchester United have dotted the intellectual rights, crossed the trademarks and handed the keys of Old Trafford to football’s most colourful and controversial manager

Hang on tight.

After a trophy-sprinkled career with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho has formally - and there has been many formalities - replaced Louis van Gaal as manager with a remit to bring back the glory days the club once took for granted under Alex Ferguson.

Or in Rio Ferdinand language, rediscover United’s mojo, its winning mentality. The former Old Trafford defender remarked last night: “Get this ingredient back into the players and the people that work inside the club (every) day. Give them back that belief, so it is breathing throughout the club again, which is so important. But doing (it) the Manchester United way is equally as important.”

In a facebook post, Ferdinand added: “I have heard many say the ‘Mourinho way’ is not the United style of playing football. However, the Chelsea team Jose put together first time round when he entered the Premier League played with wingers and hurt teams with quick attacking play. They had the likes of Robben and Duff on the wings who were direct and quick.

This is a sign he knows how to get a team playing in a way Manchester United fans can look forward to seeing.

“Another doubt I keep hearing and being asked is, will he keep in with the tradition of the club which is bringing through the young players? For the moment, I can’t answer this, only time will tell. One thing I can say is (United) have got themselves a true winner in all aspects.”

Ferdinand believes United have also got a wounded animal on their hands, a virtue rather than a vice. “That makes him such a mouthwatering appointment.

“He will be desperate to silence the media who have been writing and saying negative things about him - he will have stored it all being the competitor he is - and will be as focused as ever. Mourinho’s huge personality is made for this great club. It’s what he has been waiting for.”

The 53-year-old, sacked by Chelsea in December seven months after winning his third Premier League title at the London club over two spells, had been a pillion passenger to every managerial rumour at Old Trafford since Van Gaal’s long-term prospects destabilised. Van Gaal’s possession-dominated playing style at a club more readily associated with fast, direct attacking, was widely criticised, but Mourinho is also known for pragmatism, relying on a strong defensive foundation and hard-working midfielders and strikers.

His arrival will divide opinion but while some have voiced concern over playing style and potentially explosive personality clashes, he is widely considered to be as close to a guarantee of silverware a manager can be.

Mourinho won the UEFA Cup and Champions League as well as the domestic double twice in his two seasons at Porto and led Chelsea to their first top-flight title in 50 years in his first campaign, retaining it the following season. He also won the League Cup and FA Cup before moving to Inter where he won Serie A as well as the Champions League and Italian Cup.

Mourinho helped Real to their first La Liga crown in four years and on returning to Chelsea, he again won the Premier League before an unexpectedly poor - and troubled - start to the 2015-16 season led to his sacking.

There will also be pressure for the new man to continue the good work of his predecessor in bringing young players such as Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard to the fore, something else Mourinho has singularly failed to do at most of his previous clubs. However, after three seasons without a league title and with no Champions League football for a second time in three years, the United hierarchy are evidently prepared to accept potential downsides if the ‘Special One’ gets the club back to what they consider to be their rightful place at the sport’s top table.

Former Old Trafford goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel believes the Portuguese “could save” the club while Hull boss Steve Bruce, who used to play in front of the Dane, said the chance to bring in Mourinho was “too good to miss”.

Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who will coach Bayern Munich next season, said Mourinho would be a “fantastic signing”, adding United had “lost its identity this last year”.

Retired Dutch star Ronald de Boer believes Mourinho is “similar” to Van Gaal in being a “workaholic” who “prepares perfectly on how to win. Sometimes it is not pretty but he knows how to grind out wins. That is what you get.”