Some things transcend a manager and his team.
Some things are for the overall good of the football club.
Whatever you think of Jose Mourinho, nobody will deny that he builds good sides. He’s got a common sense, pragmatic nous for sniffing out what he needs and getting exactly that. Wherever he’s been, that approach has brought him success.
You also can’t argue with the fact he’s never completed a fourth season with any of the clubs he’s managed.
You can’t ignore the calibre of player he’s overlooked either. He sold De Bruyne and Mata, two men who’d go on to be key players for Chelsea’s rivals and he let Lukaku go too in such a disastrous move that the same club couldn’t even buy back the obvious prospect they had on their books for a crazy fortune of money.
Whatever Mourinho thinks he needs in the short term for just a portion of the club – his prized 11 – it’s not in the best interests of the organisation. It’s not in the best interests of Manchester United or their long-term future or even their future in three years time.
No-one’s having a go at Lukaku. The man is scoring shit loads of goals and he might as well be laughing whilst he’s doing it, they’re coming that easily to him.
He was a good signing and Matic was inspired too and Mourinho hasn’t suddenly become an idiot but if he thinks he doesn’t need Harry Kane in his team, it shouldn’t matter. This goes beyond Mourinho’s idea for playing six at the back to see out a game against Southampton.
Harry Kane isn’t long turning 24 and he already looks like the finished article. He looks that way because there doesn’t seem to be any other possible facet of his game that he needs to work on, he’s got it all. Where once Kane’s biggest weakness might’ve been that nobody knew what his strength was, it’s become apparent that he’s just class at everything. And all those things are only going to get better and more polished and more deadly.
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He might not want to leave Spurs, he might have absolutely zero interest in Manchester United but such is the cruel business nature of football nowadays that the English striker might give it another few years with his local club before he accepts that his chances of glory and success and progression lie away from White Hart Lane.
When that time comes, it shouldn’t be left for Mourinho to decide if he needs him or not.
For one, of course they need him – who doesn’t? He could play up front with Lukaku if you’re that married to the idea of the Belgian.
After that, it should be a priority that no other club reaps the rewards of Kane.
But, more importantly, someone has to acknowledge that the most likely scenario is that Mourinho won’t be at United when Harry Kane is only starting to come into his peak. They can’t be missing out on one of football’s most sought-after talents because a defensive manager had a different idea for a certain time.
It’s not about next year or the year after that, it’s about the next decade and about the legacy that someone like him leaves at a club like United.
It’s about everything that will happen long after Mourinho has fallen out with everyone at Old Trafford.
