It's not a question of whether Jose Mourinho will revolutionise how things are done at Old Trafford, it's more a question of to what extent will he be allowed to. There's been a proverbial shiteload spoken about the 'United way' since the departure of Alex Ferguson and it's about time that was put to one side.
The 'United way' was the Ferguson way and if the club are ever to move on, they need to leave that in the past. Enter Jose Mourinho. Somewhat strangely, the new boss at Old Trafford has confirmed that he won't be speaking publicly in his new guise as Man United manager until July but that doesn't really matter. We know what we're going to get.
Arrogance in the face of adversity. An us against them mentality. A hatred of youth. A over-reliance on those that he already knows and trusts.
Whether any or all of those are true is up for debate but one things is for certain, there's going to be changes afoot at Old Trafford and, as has been pointed out time and time again, Mourinho will inevitably look to make his mark with transfers as soon as possible.
The thought so goes that he has a fairly rigid set of criteria when it comes to surrounding himself with the kind of players that he can get the best out of. He comes in, he turns everything on it's head as soon as possible and within three years, he's out the door again.
But just how true is that hypothesis. All the talk has been about the players that will be brought in and those that will be shipped out but is there really anything from Mourinho's past appointments which would suggest that he follows a carefully constructed plan everywhere he goes. We had a look back through Mourinho's previous first throes of revolution to see if there's any pattern that will be followed at Old Trafford this summer.
Chelsea (Round 1)
Transfers in -
Notable points of interest:
Players he knows in Ferreira and Carvalho.
A marquee centre forward in Didier Drogba.
A hot young thing in Arjen Robben.
Transfers out -
Notable points of interest:
Ageing deadwood had absolutely no place in the new Chelsea.
Inter Milan
Transfers in -
Notable points of interest:
Player he knows (briefly) in Crespo.
A distinct lack of messing with a title winning formula.
Transfers out -
Notable points of interest:
Not a whole lot.
Real Madrid
Transfers in -
Notable points of interest:
Player he knows (very well) in Carvalho.
A surprising reliance on youth.
Transfers out -
Notable points of interest:
Time for the club legends to move on.
Chelsea (Round 2)
Transfers in -
Notable points of interest:
Big money spent on relative youth of Schurrle, Van Ginkel and Willian.
Player he knows in Eto'o.
Transfers out -
Notable points of interest:
Paulo Ferreira managed to stick around at Chelsea for a ludicrous amount of time.
The high profile players he wanted out (De Bruyne and Mata) were given until January to prove themselves (inflate their price).
Manchester United
Conclusion
Revolution is not something that Jose Mourinho is necessarily keen on. He may have a reputation as a manager who likes to do surround himself with only the most loyal lieutenants but the reality would certainly appear that he's as likely to implement a steady transition to his way of thinking as opposed to all out war from the first day.
The likes of Memphis Depay will more than likely be given the opportunity to prove himself. He may not be promoting any academy graduates but established youth could well be brought in. And last but not least, if Mourinho gets his way, Zlatan (and possibly Willian) will absolutely be rocking up to Old Trafford before the end of the transfer window.
We're not the coolest bunch but here's a few topless GAA players to give you some helphttps://t.co/xRJ2pDdKVz
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 26, 2016
