Jose Mourinho, who was today unveiled as manager by Manchester United has boasted that he will not simply settle for returning Manchester United to the Champions League but he wants to win it all at Old Trafford.
Though he said that he is “frustrated” not to be in the Champions League, but the former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager said he is where he wanted to be and where every coach would like to be.
Mourinho hinted at his first news conference today that he will aggressively pursue his targets from the outset and wants to make the fans proud of their team again.
He said: “I was never very good at hiding behind words or philosophies. I was always much more aggressive in my approach, with the risks it can bring.
“It would be easy, honest and pragmatic for me to focus on the last three years, and the fact we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, and to say ‘let’s work, let’s try to be back in the top-four, let’s try to do well in the Europa League’.
“But I am not good at that, and I don’t want to be good. I prefer to be more aggressive and to be more aggressive is to say ‘we want to win’.
“I want everything. I want to win matches, play well, play young players, score goals, not concede goals. I want the fans to be behind us not because we are chasing a result in the last 10 minutes but because we are defending a result.
“Of course we are not going to get everything, but we want to. I don’t hide that I am chasing Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of Champions League matches. Hopefully it is only one season that we are not there. And when I say ‘we’, obviously the club is more important than myself and Manchester United is a Champions League club.
“We have to make sure that in July 2017, instead of waiting for the Europa League play-offs and then the group draw, this club is where it has to be – the Champions League.”
Mourinho takes over the Red Devils that has not challenged for the Premier League title since they last won under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, finishing a highest of fourth under Louis van Gaal in 2015.
Mourinho, sacked by Chelsea just six months after lifting the title that same year following a disastrous start to the campaign, nevertheless insisted that he does not have a point to prove.
“The last time I won a title was one year ago. If I have a lot to prove, imagine the others. The reality is that this was never important for me. I play against myself. That’s my feeling. That’s my nature.
“I am 53, not 63 or 73. Maybe you are tired of me because I started so early at the highest level. But I am a very young manager. If I have this approach of not trying to prove to myself, or to others, or going for big challenges, then I am in trouble.
“I could approach this job in a defensive point of view by saying ‘yes, the last three years the best we did was fourth, the best we did was the FA Cup’. I cannot go into that side.
“I don’t want the players to start the season by thinking ‘we have to do better’. What is to do better? To do better is to finish fourth. To finish fourth is not the aim.”
Mourinho was also clear on his transfer plans. He somehow confirmed his desire to bring back Paul Pogba to old Trafford and said that he wants to make four signings this summer, with two already confirmed and another arriving “soon” (refering to Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund).
Mourinho appears to be very close to his fourth target after the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and former Villareal strongman, Eric Bailly from Ivory Coast.
Sources tell Checkpointcharley that Manchester United want want to bring Pogba back to Old Trafford from Juventus Turin. However, Mourinho refused to disclose the identity of the fourth player’s identity.
“We made a nucleus of four positions as priority to give a certain balance to the squad, and a push in terms of quality that I want,” he aid. But he put it beyond doubt that he prefers “specialists” as he set out his ideas on his United team.
“As you know, especially the ones with more vision, I am a manager that likes specialists, not multi-functional players.
“I am clear with my approach and model of player. I like one or two multi-functional players. You always need someone that can give you a hand.
“From these targets we have three, until we have the fourth we are working hard on that, with Mr Woodward and the owners. When we have them we will breathe, we will be stable, and the market will still be open.”
“But I am not good at that, and I don’t want to be good. I prefer to be more aggressive and to be more aggressive is to say ‘we want to win’.
“I want everything. I want to win matches, play well, play young players, score goals, not concede goals. I want the fans to be behind us not because we are chasing a result in the last 10 minutes but because we are defending a result.
“Of course we are not going to get everything, but we want to. I don’t hide that I am chasing Sir Alex Ferguson’s record of Champions League matches. Hopefully it is only one season that we are not there. And when I say ‘we’, obviously the club is more important than myself and Manchester United is a Champions League club.
“We have to make sure that in July 2017, instead of waiting for the Europa League play-offs and then the group draw, this club is where it has to be – the Champions League.”
Mourinho takes over the Red Devils that has not challenged for the Premier League title since they last won under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, finishing a highest of fourth under Louis van Gaal in 2015.
Mourinho, sacked by Chelsea just six months after lifting the title that same year following a disastrous start to the campaign, nevertheless insisted that he does not have a point to prove.
“The last time I won a title was one year ago. If I have a lot to prove, imagine the others. The reality is that this was never important for me. I play against myself. That’s my feeling. That’s my nature.
“I am 53, not 63 or 73. Maybe you are tired of me because I started so early at the highest level. But I am a very young manager. If I have this approach of not trying to prove to myself, or to others, or going for big challenges, then I am in trouble.
“I could approach this job in a defensive point of view by saying ‘yes, the last three years the best we did was fourth, the best we did was the FA Cup’. I cannot go into that side.
“I don’t want the players to start the season by thinking ‘we have to do better’. What is to do better? To do better is to finish fourth. To finish fourth is not the aim.”
Mourinho was also clear on his transfer plans. He somehow confirmed his desire to bring back Paul Pogba to old Trafford and said that he wants to make four signings this summer, with two already confirmed and another arriving “soon” (refering to Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund).
Mourinho appears to be very close to his fourth target after the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and former Villareal strongman, Eric Bailly from Ivory Coast.
Sources tell Checkpointcharley that Manchester United want want to bring Pogba back to Old Trafford from Juventus Turin. However, Mourinho refused to disclose the identity of the fourth player’s identity.
“We made a nucleus of four positions as priority to give a certain balance to the squad, and a push in terms of quality that I want,” he aid. But he put it beyond doubt that he prefers “specialists” as he set out his ideas on his United team.
“As you know, especially the ones with more vision, I am a manager that likes specialists, not multi-functional players.
“I am clear with my approach and model of player. I like one or two multi-functional players. You always need someone that can give you a hand.
“From these targets we have three, until we have the fourth we are working hard on that, with Mr Woodward and the owners. When we have them we will breathe, we will be stable, and the market will still be open.”
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