da pinnacle： In case you’ve missed it, Jose Mourinho is the new Manchester United manager.
da imperador bet： The divisive Portuguese coach replaces Louis Van Gaal at Old Trafford after a less than satisfactory league campaign saw the Red Devils finish outside of the Champions League places. Combine this with the monotonous football the team offered up under the Dutchman and it seemed the writing was on the wall – regardless of an FA Cup win last weekend.
Mourinho will bring plenty to United, both good and bad depending on what you think of him but what he almost guarantees is trophies. The Red Devils, FA Cup aside, have not even looked close to being the silverware-hoovering unit they were under Sir Alex Ferguson and this is the former Chelsea boss’ main task.
Something else he needs to do is bring back entertaining football, a trademark of the best Manchester United teams. Old Trafford has been bereft of this for the last few seasons and whilst Mourinho isn’t exactly known for his attacking approach, it surely can’t be worse than under the departing Van Gaal.
Mourinho knows how to win titles – he’s done it wherever he’s been – but he also needs players that know how to as well. United do still have remnants of their last Premier League win, the likes of Wayne Rooney, David De Gea and Michael Carrick are all still prominent but Mourinho will want more.
There’s plenty of players the Portuguese has taken to a league title and here at FootballFanCast we think this FIVE of his former stars could help bring the title back to Old Trafford…
Willian
Reports are emerging that the Brazilian winger may want to follow his former manager to Manchester United. Willian was easily Chelsea’s best player this season and among the rumours that the players did not want to play for Mourinho anymore at Stamford Bridge, here was a man that clearly did. The winger would be a big boost to United’s attack and is far better than what they have at the club currently in his position.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic worked under Mourinho at Inter Milan and famously said he’d be willing to die for his manager in his book I am Zlatan. Clearly they have a strong relationship and with an evident lack of depth in the striking positions for United, the Swedish hit-man would stroll into United’s side. With Mourinho getting the best out of him the Red Devils would become far more threatening.
Raphael Varane
Varane spent two years under Mourinho at Real Madrid but found playing time limited behind Pepe and Sergio Ramos – just as he does now. There’s no doubting the young Frenchman’s talent and he’d certainly start at United. There may be question marks over the former Porto manager’s ability to nurture youth, but for Varane it should be acknowledged if you’re good enough, you’re old enough and he’s definitely good enough.
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Nemanja Matic
Mourinho bought Matic back to Chelsea from Benfica. The Serbian became the key holding player in Chelsea’s 2014/15 title win, just as Claude Makelele had done a decade before in Mourinho’s first stint in charge. United lack a holding midfielder – a position that is hugely vital in modern football and the Serbian would cover a possible young defence of Chris Smalling and Varane perfectly.
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Karim Benzema
Benzema is still a world class striker but could find his position increasingly under threat with Cristiano Ronaldo evolving into an out and out forward as he ages. The Frenchman might fancy a move to guarantee first team action for next season and under a manager with whom he won La Liga in 2011/12 the former Lyon man would surely be a success at Old Trafford in 2016/17.
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