Why Mourinho is the right man to succeed Sir Alex

For the last few year years the one of the hottest debates in English football and its fans is that who will succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as the manger of Manchester United. Many names are being put forward as the successor of the gaffer. Most of them are former players currently in Managerial roles like Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Laurent Blanc etc. Experienced premiership managers like David Moyes and Martin O Neil are also names that are favourite with the united fans as successor of Fergie. But the most prolific and most often linked name to who will be succeeding Sir Alex in the role is ‘The special one’ Jose Mourinho.

Most Manchester United fans are highly critical of appointing Mourinho as the manager of the club when Fergie eventually retires. Some of the arguments against him include that he will make united a boring, defensive team which will not have any character. Even I had the same feelings about him. I wanted someone like David Moyes who had a good managerial experience in the EPL and who had a great ability to develop young talent to succeed Fergie. But last week I was watching a Real Madrid game and was thinking how it would be if Jose Mourinho was the next manger of United. That is when I realized that Mourinho is the perfect Manger to replace Fergie. Here is why I think so:

1. United is a team that will always have big players who come with a big wage bill and even bigger egos. The manager should be someone who will be able to control these players and make them behave in a disciplined manner so that the team can achieve the best results. This was the trademark of Fergie’s carrier. He is always the biggest person in the club. It’s his way or the highway. Many high profile players such as David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have been on the receiving end of the wrath of Sir Alex and have had to leave the club. His ‘hairdryer’ treatment for not playing well in a game is notorious and is feared by all United players, however big a star they are. Mourinho while managing Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Real Madrid have shown that he can handle high profile players without any problems at all. He can easily takeover the position of the biggest man atManchesterunited from Sir Alex
2. Other than the players, Sir Alex is also impervious to the media and the authorities to some extent. Sir Alex’s long standing riff with the BBC is well known where he didn’t attend the after match press conferences which where mandatory for every manager. Even when a fine was imposed on him for this by the FA he chose to pay that fine rather than attend the press conferences. He is also very intimidating to the referees. The most often published picture of him is when he stands near his touchline giving the fourth official an earful. The successor of Fergusson should be someone who is fearless of the media and the FA. And I cannot think of any other current manager who can do it as well as ‘The special one.’
3. One of the other reasons why I think Mourinho is apt is because he has shown that he can beat Barcelona, who has become Sir Alex’s nemesis in the last few years. Although Mourinho is not having much success with Real Madrid against Barcelona we all remember how he tactically outplayed Barcelona in both legs of the 2009-10 champions league semi final.
4. Mourinho also has the experience of all football competitions including the premier league and the champion’s league. Other probable successors like Steve Bruce or David Moyes lack the Champions league exposure whereas Laurent Blanc had no premiership managing experience. Mourinho had a very good spell in the BPL with Chelsea winning multiple tittles and also in the Champions league with different teams and winning it with Porto and Inter Milan.

Because of all these points I would be very glad if it is the Special One who succeeds Sir Alex Fergusson as the manger ofManchesterunited. (Although I hope it doesn’t happen for the next 10-15 years.)