Charlie Nicholas says he’d be surprised if Jose Mourinho sees out the season at Manchester United as he faces another tough game against Tottenham on Monday night.
The Portuguese has hardly raised a smile all summer and defeat at Brighton last week brought about familiar questions about his future at Old Trafford.
Spurs invested even less than United in the summer, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side have won their opening two games and arrive full of confidence.
“It’s crazy we’re talking about the third game and already there’s mega pressure on Jose Mourinho and we’re talking about whether he will survive the season,” Nicholas told Sporting Life.
“What’s clear is he doesn’t know his best eleven. He has to get rid of these excuses of who they didn’t get in the transfer window – it’s like it’s still hanging in the air.
“It’s at the stage where we’re just asking who are you Man Utd? There’s no real identity and I just don’t see enough quality in their team.”
Mourinho will find it hard to see out the season
Although it’s far from panic stations yet at Old Trafford the signs are ominous and Nicholas believes that after all the conflict between Mourinho and Ed Woodward it will be hard for the manager to finish the season.
“There’s no crisis yet,” Nicholas added.
“If they go and get a result here then people will say they’re not great but they’re getting results so it’s just about balancing it out.
“He can win a cup because in the past he’s been a serial winner, but last season damaged him badly because all these super coaches we have in the Premier League now are stealing his thunder.
“Jose’s getting a bit like Arsene Wenger now as these other coaches are bypassing him and he’s finding it hard to keep up.
“I think what the Man Utd owners are saying to Mourinho is that he’s spent enough now and he’s got to prove he’s one of the best coaches in the world.
“It’s a sweeping change when something like that happens to someone like Mourinho so I would genuinely be surprised if he makes it through the season.”
Pochettino would reject Man Utd job
Zinedine Zidane is already being linked with the United job, while Monday’s opposite number Pochettino is a candidate given the job he’s done at Spurs with limited funds.
Nicholas, though, thinks that Pochettino could well favour remaining at Tottenham rather than move to Old Trafford.
“There’s talk of Zidane already waiting in the wings, but there’s also talk of Pochettino in connection with the United job - with people saying about him meeting with Sir Alex a few months ago so that’s when they’ll start to put it all together.
“Pochettino has done a fabulous job, it pains me to say as an Arsenal man! But he’s been brilliant, especially considering Spurs don’t have any money, they’ve got to pay for the stadium.
“If Man United did come calling then Pochettino might just think hang on, Spurs are a better bet than United right now.
“I think he’s probably thinking that when the stadium’s up and running then things could be different, so I expect him to stay there for at least this season and then see how it’s going.”
Classic Mourinho could blunt in-form Spurs
As for the big game on Monday, Spurs may arrive full of confidence but a classic Mourinho masterplan could earn the hosts a point.
“Spurs have a great team but they’ve not got enough money to challenge for the title, although they have enough to finish top four again,” says Nicholas.
“They’ve had two games you’d expect them to win, but they won them, and Harry Kane’s scored his first goal in August so he’ll have great confidence and they’ve got the momentum.
“But Spurs tend to go into these type of games and freeze - they play well enough but it just seems to go wrong for them in the end.
“I think Mourinho will choke the game, he’ll squeeze Spurs into making mistakes, some classic Mourinho stuff. So I can see this being a 1-1 draw.
“He’ll tell us he wouldn’t be happy with a draw but he’d probably take one the way things are going.”
