Will Jose Mourinho last the full season at Manchester United ?
An increasing number of football fans are asking themselves this very question following the events of the past few weeks.
United’s dip in form since their 4-0 defeat away at Chelsea on October 23 has coincided with Mourinho acting increasingly petulantly and irrationally.
The Portuguese coach was handed a one-game touchline ban and fined £50,000 by the Football Association for two charges earlier this month.
And now he faces a potential three-match touchline ban after kicking a water bottle and being sent to the stands during Sunday’s 1-1 draw against West Ham at Old Trafford.
Mourinho has also come across as irritable and short-tempered during press conferences and televised interviews.
The 53-year-old appears to have the weight on the world on his shoulders and perhaps that’s understandable when you consider United are sixth in the Premier League table after 13 matches played, already 11 points behind his former employers Chelsea.
The Daily Mail have now revealed more information that adds weight to the argument that Mourinho is acting rather peculiarly at the moment.
They claim people at United’s training ground talk of an “obsessive man totally absorbed by his own problems”.
He will ‘smile at you one minute and blank you the next’.
Mourinho has been described as having a “split personality”, with players and staff not involved with the first team reportedly ignored.
Rui Faria, Mourinho’s long-serving assistant, is the man tasked with keeping up morale.
The report adds that Mourinho has distanced himself from the players in training and has even used a side entrance at Carrington to avoid mingling with them inside the canteen.
“There’s a fine line between madness and genius,” one United source told Sportsmail. “People react differently to pressure and he’s obsessive about winning.
“Everyone thinks he can live up to his reputation as the Special One but the pressure he is putting himself under needs a release. After all, it’s just kicking a water bottle.
“But there’s no doubt it’s upset the applecart because he courts controversy in a way others haven’t here. It upsets people at the club because they’re not used to it.”
Mourinho reportedly feels that some players are not taking enough responsibility for turning the situation around and has ‘privately’ questioned the temperament as well as the quality of the squad.
It’s almost a year since Chelsea sacked Mourinho after he lost the dressing room at Stamford Bridge – could the same thing possibly happen soon at Old Trafford?