JJ Paradiso rates Joses' signings

https://www.theguardian.com/football...chester-united

Eric Bailly – £30m
Signed from Villarreal, 8 June 2016
Bailly was Mourinho’s best centre-back in his debut season yet has since lost his way. The manager claimed he did not feature at the end of last season as the Ivorian was not “fighting for a World Cup place”. An odd reason. Rating 5/10

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – free
Signed from PSG, 1 July 2016
The Swede walked his (at times) outlandish talk where it matters: on the pitch, returning 28 goals in 52 appearances though a serious knee injury towards the end of his opening season effectively ended his United career. Just seven more outings followed before departing for LA Galaxy in March. 8/10

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – £30m
Signed from Borussia Dortmund, 6 July 2016
The reigning Bundesliga player of the year when joining, Mkhitaryan was pulled off at half-time of his debut in the Manchester derby and subsequently dropped: an augury of what ensued throughout his 18 months at the club before being swapped for Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez.
5/10

Paul Pogba – £89m
Signed from Juventus, 9 August 2016
The Frenchman, bought to be the superstar in Mourinho’s United, is proving a disappointment. At £89m the manager thought he was acquiring a week-in, week-out A-list performer yet instead Pogba turns it on around once every four or five matches, which is not good enough.
5/10

Victor Lindelöf – £30m
Signed from Benfica, 14 June 2017
Like Bailly, the Swede has been in and out of the XI since Mourinho signed him and this caused Ed Woodward to question the manager’s wish to pursue one of Jérôme Boateng, Harry Maguire or Diego Godín last summer. Were they, the executive vice-chairman reasoned, actually any better than the players United had?
5/10

Romelu Lukaku – £75m
Signed from Everton, 10 July 2017
The centre-forward scored 27 in 51 appearances in his debut campaign for United, while also returning 10 in 11 for Belgium in a World Cup year. He may now be feeling the pace and Mourinho admitted concern over his form on Tuesday.
7/10

Nemanja Matic – £40m
Signed from Chelsea, 31 July 2017
Now Ibrahimovic has left Matic is the sole Mourinho signing who can be rated an unqualified success. The Serb is a classic water-carrier-type midfielder who allows others to perform, and offers consistent 8-out-of-10 displays his manager must wish Pogba or Alexis Sánchez would return. 8/10

Alexis Sánchez – swap deal for Mkhitaryan
Signed from Arsenal, 22 January 2018
Mourinho believed a coup was achieved when the Chilean rejected neighbours City for United yet Sánchez has been a near-disaster, failing to contribute a strike-ratio comparable to the 18 league goals Raheem Sterling managed last term. He is also lacking touch, guile and any kind of presence.
3/10

Diogo Dalot – £19m
Signed from Porto, 6 June 2018
The full-back was impressive on debut against Young Boys in United’s opening Champions League match but is again unavailable, having arrived from Porto in recovery from a knee problem. Given Antonio Valencia’s advancing years – he is now 33 – Mourinho will hope Dalot does not prove as injury plagued as Phil Jones.
5/10

Fred – £47m
Signed from Shakhtar Donetsk, 21 June 2018
The midfielder follows Lindelöf last year and Mkhitaryan the previous one: a Mourinho summer signing who the manager seems unsure of. United went behind in the 17th minute against Juventus yet when fresh energy was needed to try and turn the contest, Fred’s 25-year-old legs were not called upon.
5/10

Lee Grant – £1.53m
Signed from Stoke City, 3 July 2018
The 35-year-old was bought as a No 3 yet had a surprise debut in September’s Carabao Cup tie with Derby County when Sergio Romero was sent off. Was accomplished before the penalty shootout, Grant being unable to prevent the Championship side prevailing
8-7. 5/10

How do YOU rate the signings?

How do YOU rate the signings?

Utterly shit

Paradiso can £#%&!ing choke himself the stupid @#%&!

Why do so many players look good or even excellent elsewhere, sign for United and immediately turn to shit? It goes back years, well before Mourinho.
People laughed when Liverpool signed Van Dijk. Not any more. Most of their players have improved, same at city. When was the last player United signed who got noticeably better?

Originally Posted by Pop

They've been unmitigated £#%&!ing disasters/10

ftfy

Sounds like a night club. Who is he?

Originally Posted by ryanMUFC

Sounds like a night club. Who is he?

Scruffy clueless @#%&! from the Guardian.

Least he keeps his dick in his pants though.

So, for all intents and purposes, pretty much a whole new team. 350m odd and we’re tenth; £#%&!ing miles behind the top teams in England and Europe.

It doesn’t reflect very well on him, does it?

Originally Posted by Cream

Nemanja Matic – £40m
Signed from Chelsea, 31 July 2017
Now Ibrahimovic has left Matic is the sole Mourinho signing who can be rated an unqualified success. The Serb is a classic water-carrier-type midfielder who allows others to perform, and offers consistent 8-out-of-10 displays his manager must wish Pogba or Alexis Sánchez would return. 8/10

Originally Posted by utd99

So, for all intents and purposes, pretty much a whole new team. 350m odd and we’re tenth; £#%&!ing miles behind the top teams in England and Europe.

It doesn’t reflect very well on him, does it?

Nope.

Originally Posted by utd99

So, for all intents and purposes, pretty much a whole new team. 350m odd and we’re tenth; £#%&!ing miles behind the top teams in England and Europe.

It doesn’t reflect very well on him, does it?

But Peresic...

But the lad with the square head from Leicester...

Get with the program FFS.

Originally Posted by utd99

So, for all intents and purposes, pretty much a whole new team. 350m odd and we’re tenth; £#%&!ing miles behind the top teams in England and Europe.

It doesn’t reflect very well on him, does it?

Well, I agree on some of what you say, but disagree on others.

Out of that whole list, only Pogba and Lukaku are what you might call 'big signings'. Zlatan was a free but also coming to the end of his career.

The rest have all been for pretty modest fees by today's standards and as a result you're getting modest quality players. What's 30m for Lindelof when City are spending 60m on Laporte and Liverpool 75m on Van Dijk? What's 19m on Dalot when City are spending 50m on Kyle Walker?

I'm not excusing the wretched football or the piss poor results, i'm just saying don't expect 'waitrose' results when you're shopping in Lidl.

I'd also be shocked if Fred was anywhere near the top of Mourinho's wanted list this summer. He's so far from a Mourinho player it's ridiculous.

With that in mind however, Pogba and Sanchez have been total and utter flops and I daresay a fair chunk of that is down to the manager and his almost disinterest in cultivating any kind of attacking football since he's been at the club.

I was listening to a belgian journo on the radio discussing Lukaku and he made the quite decent point that as poor as Lukaku has been of late, if he were playing for a club like City or Liverpool, he'd have far more goals to his name because they create so many chances. You can't bemoan your striker not scoring when you don't create anything for them. The assembled Belgian journalists at Old Trafford on Tuesday were noting that compared to the belgian national set up, who concentrate a lot on attacking moves and situations, there is absolutely no semblance of any kind of attacking thought or planning at United.

That is very very worrying and points to a manager who just isn't arsed any more.

Liverpool also spent £10m on Shaqiri (Mourinho looked at him), Robinson for peanuts, Salah for £30m, Mane around the same.

Klopp knows how to get the best out of them, the players respect him because whilst he's tough they've bought into how he wants his team to play. THEY ENJOY what they do. It's the same with Pochettino.

Our players hate him, and they should do because his football is 10 years behind and the game has moved on in terms of how teams play, players are coached and treated and he can't handle it. Players hold the power now, it's about how you manage that.

He's not arsed anymore, he threw the towel in 18 months ago but those above him are shit scared of being a sacking club, well guess what if we're to return to the top table it's going to take some tough decisions to be made on and off the pitch and that includes sacking someone who is clearly not up to it anymore and can't be arsed changing his ways nor has shown he can.

Fred was defo his signing btw. Just like Sanchez was, and Mhikitryan, and Bailly and Lindelof and Pogba and Lukaku (after Morata). He loves escaping the blame when his expensive signings go wrong.

Originally Posted by utd99

So, for all intents and purposes, pretty much a whole new team. 350m odd and we’re tenth; £#%&!ing miles behind the top teams in England and Europe.

It doesn’t reflect very well on him, does it?

Not to mention that about half of them have never been played regularly.

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

Not to mention that about half of them have never been played regularly.

...and he had 6 months watching United before he took over, and the shit @#%&!s still survived.

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

Liverpool also spent £10m on Shaqiri (Mourinho looked at him), Robinson for peanuts, Salah for £30m, Mane around the same.

Klopp knows how to get the best out of them, the players respect him because whilst he's tough they've bought into how he wants his team to play. THEY ENJOY what they do. It's the same with Pochettino.

Our players hate him, and they should do because his football is 10 years behind and the game has moved on in terms of how teams play, players are coached and treated and he can't handle it. Players hold the power now, it's about how you manage that.

He's not arsed anymore, he threw the towel in 18 months ago but those above him are shit scared of being a sacking club, well guess what if we're to return to the top table it's going to take some tough decisions to be made on and off the pitch and that includes sacking someone who is clearly not up to it anymore and can't be arsed changing his ways nor has shown he can.

Fred was defo his signing btw. Just like Sanchez was, and Mhikitryan, and Bailly and Lindelof and Pogba and Lukaku (after Morata). He loves escaping the blame when his expensive signings go wrong.

Just don't buy this. It's always the quick go-to argument that the game has left a manager behind. The way modern players are coached isn't a new thing and it's only eight years ago the Inter players were distraught at him leaving after just two years in charge.

He knew how to connect with the modern player; his social skills were more than capable of that. He bonded with Zlatan and Eto'o in a way Guardiola couldn't. He's never been an amazing coach or tactician, but players totally bought into his gameplan, which used to be more varied. As the arch pragmatist, he knew when to surprise the opposition with a more aggressive attacking approach.

Much of that is gone. He's not charismatic anymore. He doesn't appear as sociable or reachable to his players and the pragmatism has turned into just outright negativity, which is a reflection of his mindset. It can still work - look at his results against the top four last year; against Klopp since he arrived - but it feels dull because he no longer mixes it up. He no longer trusts his players.

I don't think the game has changed and left Mou behind; it feels like the other way around. He no longer has the spark that made him what he was. And I think there were very clear warning signs that it was the case two years ago when we hired him.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Just don't buy this. It's always the quick go-to argument that the game has left a manager behind. The way modern players are coached isn't a new thing and it's only eight years ago the Inter players were distraught at him leaving after just two years in charge.

He knew how to connect with the modern player; his social skills were more than capable of that. He bonded with Zlatan and Eto'o in a way Guardiola couldn't. He's never been an amazing coach or tactician, but players totally bought into his gameplan, which used to be more varied. As the arch pragmatist, he knew when to surprise the opposition with a more aggressive attacking approach.

Much of that is gone. He's not charismatic anymore. He doesn't appear as sociable or reachable to his players and the pragmatism has turned into just outright negativity, which is a reflection of his mindset. It can still work - look at his results against the top four last year; against Klopp since he arrived - but it feels dull because he no longer mixes it up. He no longer trusts his players.

I don't think the game has changed and left Mou behind; it feels like the other way around. He no longer has the spark that made him what he was. And I think there were very clear warning signs that it was the case two years ago when we hired him.

Him almost £#%&!ing relegating Chelsea for example.

Originally Posted by Zorg

Him almost £#%&!ing relegating Chelsea for example.

I remember when he left Chelsea there was a big piece in The Times detailing much of the stuff going on behind the scenes. Saying that the Chelsea players said he'd come back a different guy, and the public blowout with the doctors was really just the tip of the iceberg.

Would have been nice to think someone at this multi-billion pound club may have looked into that stuff. Done a bit of asking about etc.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

I remember when he left Chelsea there was a big piece in The Times detailing much of the stuff going on behind the scenes. Saying that the Chelsea players said he'd come back a different guy, and the public blowout with the doctors was really just the tip of the iceberg.

Would have been nice to think someone at this multi-billion pound club may have looked into that stuff. Done a bit of asking about etc.

That would have required planning and forethought. In truth that spell should have ruled him out categorically, he was a £#%&!ing disaster. I shudder to think who Woodward has his eye on to replace him.

Originally Posted by Zorg

That would have required planning and forethought. In truth that spell should have ruled him out categorically, he was a £#%&!ing disaster. I shudder to think who Woodward has his eye on to replace him.