BBC: United hold talks with Mourinho

Manchester United have held talks with representatives of former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

The 53-year-old Portuguese, who was sacked by the Blues in December, is increasingly hopeful of succeeding Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.

No agreement has been reached, and the club have made no comment, but negotiations have begun.

Dutchman Van Gaal, 64, is expected to leave United at the end of the season - one year earlier than scheduled.

That would leave the way clear for Mourinho, who is known to be excited by the prospect of taking over at Old Trafford.

The United hierarchy are thought to be keen to respond after Manchester City secured the services of coveted former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola earlier this week.

Mourinho's arrival would mean a resumption of a rivalry that began in Spain when he was coach of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013.

It is widely assumed the most obvious alternative to Mourinho is Ryan Giggs, Van Gaal's assistant.

The Welshman, who joined United aged 14, made a record 963 appearances for the club and won 13 Premier League titles.

The 42-year-old took over as manager on an interim basis in April 2014 following the sacking of David Moyes.

Although he has not spoken about the United job since Van Gaal took over, it would be a surprise were he not interested in replacing the Dutchman should the opportunity arise.

However, while Giggs was happy to further his education under Van Gaal, he is unlikely to be as willing to work with Mourinho.

Twice in recent weeks, Van Gaal's tenure has seemed perilous.

However, defeats by Stoke on Boxing Day and Southampton on 23 January have been followed by an improvement in both form and performance.

United, who are five points adrift of the Champions League places, play Chelsea on Sunday (16:00 GMT).

jibers wrote:Utter disgrace. I'll leave it at that.

RED wrote:

jibers wrote:Utter disgrace. I'll leave it at that.

I know you don't want Mou.

Who would have been your preference for the job?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Still a chance LVG will make 4th place, though, would achieving that make nay difference?

On the least, Mou knows how to build a balanced team, and his attacking tactics can't be any worse than Static United.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Still a chance LVG will make 4th place, though, would achieving that make nay difference?

On the least, Mou knows how to build a balanced team, and his attacking tactics can't be any worse than Static United.

Why should it? anything less than CL qualification ( if anything they should achieve a lot more anyway) would be a disgrace.

jibers wrote:

RED wrote:

jibers wrote:Utter disgrace. I'll leave it at that.

I know you don't want Mou.

Who would have been your preference for the job?

Leave LVG. As I said before, we need 3 players to complete the team in his image. A passing #6/vice-Carrick, A winger that can dribble so that Martial can go central and a needle player. Once we have these 3 players, we can compete and play his football effectively.

LeBéninois wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
Why should it? anything less than CL qualification ( if anything they should achieve a lot more anyway) would be a disgrace.

Why ? Spurs , Arsenal, City and Leicester are above Man U this year imo so getting the 4th place after all would be not so bad at all. Man U have very high standard for sure but they can still finish 4th after all their problems then it's great.

Turok_TTZ wrote:Mourinho has his faults for certain.
But his career is without question.
If Mourinho gets rid of rooney, how would mancs react?

Donuts wrote:I agree mourinho isn't a great longterm coach but he is great on getting a team back on the map though, i don't follow much of utd but isn't that what they need?
does his ability to rise a club outweigh the state he leaves the club?

Doc wrote:Incredible amounts of cash and good squads no matter where he has gone.

Reminds me of someone else imo.

CBarca wrote:

Donuts wrote:I agree mourinho isn't a great longterm coach but he is great on getting a team back on the map though, i don't follow much of utd but isn't that what they need?
does his ability to rise a club outweigh the state he leaves the club?

Exactly what club has he risen? He's had incredible amounts of cash and good squads no matter where he's gone. What United need is a manager who has a long term vision who can set the club up for success in forthcoming years. Exactly what is so good if United get back into the top 4 for a couple years with Mourinho if he leaves a team in shambles and they drop right back out again? This is assuming Mourinho can get United in the top 4 a couple times, of course.

You guys act like Mourinho enables short term success and that short term success enables long term success. Where exactly has this ever happened in his career?

And that's why it's short sighted