Perhaps there is some truth in what the advertisers always claimed. Guinness, or whatever it was that Wayne Rooney was drinking on his “night of shame” might actually be good for you.
What other conclusion can be drawn given the Manchester United’s forward’s form since he was pictured self lubricating while on international duty? Maybe Gareth Southgate’s first significant act as England manager should be to make such nights out compulsory for his squad.
Flippancy aside, while there can be no debate that Rooney’s performances have been of a higher standard since that incident than they were before, the more telling indicator of his recent improvement is that he is not the only United player to show such signs. It is on the training ground rather than the hotel lounge that the catalyst for his renaissance is to be found.
Other than an understandable desire to show his critics, whom he accused of a “disgraceful” lack of respect, that he does still have something to offer, Rooney’s controversial night out is no more the trigger for his revival than it would have been the cause of his accelerated decline had his form continued the downward trajectory that it had been on beforehand. It is Jose Mourinho, not Birra Moretti, who has given him a lift.
It almost seems unfashionable to say it given the strength of the current consensus that Mourinho has lost much of whatever it was that made him the kind of manager who could get the best out of players, individually and collectively, but the signs that he is finally getting through to the United squad have been growing ever since their dispiriting defeat to Fenerbahce a month ago.
Progress has been imperfect and, by Mourinho’s own admission, results have not always agreed with performances. But even before last night’s impressive victory over a disinterested and disjointed West Ham United in the EFL Cup, it was clear that United’s style of play was starting to develop.
Feyenoord and Swansea City were swatted aside with ease, while West Ham should have been beaten in the Premier League, as should Arsenal.
Rooney is just one of those who is beginning to play his part. Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, Michael Carrick and Paul Pogba have led the charge and there are even indications, although that is all they should be viewed as at this stage, that Mourinho might be able to get more than calamity and injury out of Phil Jones.
The United manager’s previous treatment of Henrikh Mkhitaryan remains baffling to the point that it is hard to determine anything other than his judgement went awry, but the injection of class that the Armenian has provided bodes well for the rest of the season.
As form improves so too does confidence, none more so than in the case of Anthony Martial who, regardless of the two well taken goals he scored against West Ham, looks to be emerging from the personal slump that prompted Mourinho to publicly demand more from the striker. With his willingness to take on opponents at speed returning, so too has Martial’s drive and desire; his response to criticism from his manager suggesting that Mourinho might still know a bit about man management.
While the mood at Old Trafford is slowly but surely becoming more positive, there remains an element of Mourinho’s behaviour that does favours to neither himself nor his club. Most would agree that booting a plastic bottle is neither here nor there when it comes to conduct but it was wholly in keeping with his image as someone who is either unwilling or unable to accept authority.
The acute sense of victimhood that he exudes might be a clever shtick at other clubs, but at United, viewed by many of their supporters as the biggest in the world, it just doesn’t work. Like all of the big clubs, United are at their best when they act with a sneer. “We’re Man United, we do what we want,” the chant went, only in Mourinho’s case he can’t do what he wants because, he complains, the little men – referees, linesmen and Football Association officials – are out to get him.
In the very role in which he needs to appear all powerful, Mourinho is allowing himself to look weak, particularly when those supposedly in his inner circle mutter darkly about conspiracies against him, simply because he keeps clashing with authority figures on their terms. Those who highlight that Mourinho is hardly the first United manager to act in a way that makes confrontation inevitable certainly have a point, but with Sir Alex Ferguson there was usually, if not always, a sense that his behaviour was designed to gain an advantage. The same could not be said of Mourinho.
Other than that, though, things are suddenly looking more promising for Mourinho and United than they have done at any time since his arrival and in a possible repeat of his debut season in English football, a League Cup final against Liverpool is on the cards, although Hull City and Southampton will be determined to upset that scenario.
It was at that final, almost 12 years ago, that Mourinho famously shushed the Liverpool fans and should United’ s form continue to improve he will want to do the same to his critics. Like Rooney, he has a point to prove.
Michael Lundy joins Wooly for a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a chat about Ger Loughnane, dodgy transfers and Davy Fitzgerald’s training methods. Subscribe here on iTunes.
