As we piss our sides laughing today, just a reminder that certain geniuses in the media gave us these gems:
Paddy Barclay:
Stan Collymore:
Neil Custis:
Gary Neville:
Duncan Castles:
This was supposed to be a battle for supremacy between titans of the sport. It turned out to be a procession. The chasm between the job that each manager has done at his respective club since the start of the 2016-2017 season has been nothing short of stunning.
Guardiola came in and won the premiership title in the most dominant title-winning campaign in English football history, playing the exact style that the aforementioned geniuses derided and claimed wouldn't work in England.
Mourinho, on the other hand, inherited a younger United team that finished level on points with City and on the ascendancy, broke the world transfer record on a player whom he had no idea how to use, broke the transfer record for a number 9, and -after demanding that United get Alexis Sanchez from the nose of Guardiola - got the highest paid player in English football history. He spent close to £400m, making his squad one of the most expensive squads in the history of the sport, while having THE highest payroll in English football history, leaving United 19 points behind top spot after 17 matches in yet another infamous 3rd season meltdown, with a zero goal difference.
More shockingly, 19 points is the closest to top spot that Mourinho has ended a season. The 24 points he ended behind Chelsea in 2017 was the worst points difference to top that Manchester United have had in the premier league era.
The 19 points they trailed Liverpool when he was sacked was the highest difference that Man United have ever had against Liverpool, ever.
The start of the season that they've had is the worst they've ever had in premier league history.
This wasn't a battle. It was a categorical annihilation. And the such was the nature of the losers plight that the winner's contempt for the former has turned to pity. That - more than anything - encapsulates just how disastrous the self proclaimed special one's spell at Man United has been.
Paddy Barclay:
- Paddy Barclay: "I can absolutely promise you that nothing will have made Pep's heart sink - than the news that Mourinho coming to #mufc."
- Paddy Barclay: "Honestly, Guardiola must have felt like ripping up his contract when that happened." #mufc
Stan Collymore:
- "If he thinks he’s going to turn up and outplay everybody in the Premier League, and that teams like Watford, Leicester, Bournemouth, Southampton and Crystal Palace are going to let his Manchester City side have the ball for 90 per cent of the time and pass pretty patterns around them so they can get a result, then he is absolutely deluded. In fact, he is beyond deluded.
- And if he thinks he doesn’t need to teach tackling or one-on-one combat in training then he’ll be going back to Spain with his tail between his legs."
Neil Custis:
- "There is only one man who can take Pep on head to head in Manchester. United must get Mourinho." - February 2016
- Pundit Neil Custis suggests Pep Guardiola could learn from Jose Mourinho: ''I don't see any progress from last season. I think a lot of players, particularly at the back, don't know what they're doing. Mourinho simplifies football, Guardiola overcomplicates it. " - August 2017, right before Guardiola shattered every top flight record and won the title with a record 100 points and a 19 point differential.
Gary Neville:
- "The two Manchester clubs will fight it out for the league, but Jose Mourinho’s track record of winning titles in his second season and the buys they’ve made this summer mean I am going for United." - August 2017
Duncan Castles:
- "Unlike Guardiola, who spent a part of last season nervously trying to find out if United would hire Mourinho, he looks forward to going head-to-head with a man he tactically and mentally bested in Spain." -Duncan Castles, right before Guardiola bested his boss in every possible way, bringing this "journalist" to tears.
This was supposed to be a battle for supremacy between titans of the sport. It turned out to be a procession. The chasm between the job that each manager has done at his respective club since the start of the 2016-2017 season has been nothing short of stunning.
Guardiola came in and won the premiership title in the most dominant title-winning campaign in English football history, playing the exact style that the aforementioned geniuses derided and claimed wouldn't work in England.
Mourinho, on the other hand, inherited a younger United team that finished level on points with City and on the ascendancy, broke the world transfer record on a player whom he had no idea how to use, broke the transfer record for a number 9, and -after demanding that United get Alexis Sanchez from the nose of Guardiola - got the highest paid player in English football history. He spent close to £400m, making his squad one of the most expensive squads in the history of the sport, while having THE highest payroll in English football history, leaving United 19 points behind top spot after 17 matches in yet another infamous 3rd season meltdown, with a zero goal difference.
More shockingly, 19 points is the closest to top spot that Mourinho has ended a season. The 24 points he ended behind Chelsea in 2017 was the worst points difference to top that Manchester United have had in the premier league era.
The 19 points they trailed Liverpool when he was sacked was the highest difference that Man United have ever had against Liverpool, ever.
The start of the season that they've had is the worst they've ever had in premier league history.
This wasn't a battle. It was a categorical annihilation. And the such was the nature of the losers plight that the winner's contempt for the former has turned to pity. That - more than anything - encapsulates just how disastrous the self proclaimed special one's spell at Man United has been.
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