Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mourinho is right man for United: Sheringham

SINGAPORE — Former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham believes Jose Mourinho’s struggles at the club highlight the difficulty of the task of turning the Red Devils into serial winners again, but he is confident the Portuguese remains the right man for the job.

Teddy Sheringham (right) believes manager Jose Mourinho needs more time to understand his players. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong

Teddy Sheringham (right) believes manager Jose Mourinho needs more time to understand his players. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong

SINGAPORE — Former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham believes Jose Mourinho’s struggles at the club highlight the difficulty of the task of turning the Red Devils into serial winners again, but he is confident the Portuguese remains the right man for the job.

Mourinho took the hot seat at Old Trafford at the beginning of the season but has endured a mixed start, with United sixth in the Premier League, eight points behind leaders Liverpool after 11 games.

The 53-year-old is the third manager to take charge since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after helming the club for 27 years, with predecessors David Moyes and Louis van Gaal regarded as failures during their time.

But Sheringham, who spent four seasons at United and famously scored the equaliser in their 1999 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich, feels Mourinho needs more time to truly understand his players and stamp his mark.

“It just shows how tough it is to manage Manchester United,” he said at yesterday’s pre-match press conference at the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel for Saturday’s Battle of Europe clash between England Masters and Germany Masters.

“Alex Ferguson had his finger on everything that was going on in Manchester ... that’s all part of being a football manager — understanding the characters of the players — it takes a long while to do that.

“You are trying to juggle things, keep an eye on everything, get to know stuff and get results at the same time, and it’s not been easy for the managers who have been in there … But if anyone is going to do it, then Jose is going to do it because he has achieved success at so many other clubs previously.”

In contrast, Arsene Wenger, one of Mourinho’s closest rivals, is enjoying better fortunes.

The Gunners are fourth, just two points off the top, and are unbeaten in their past 16 games in all competitions, including 12 wins.

Much of it has been due to the scintillating form of German playmaker Mesut Ozil, who has scored seven goals already — just one behind his best-ever seasonal tally.

Fellow countryman Dietmar Hamann has been impressed with the 28-year-old, who is enjoying arguably his best period since moving to the Emirates at the end of 2013.

However, the former Liverpool midfielder warns that Ozil has to be consistent if he wants to be part of the Gunners’ folklore.

“He’s always been a very good player,” said Hamann. “He’s just got to do it over the whole season because, if he wants to go down as a legend at Arsenal, he has to win the league or Champions League, which he has not done yet.

“The jury’s still out. He’s started the season fantastically well, he’s the heartbeat of the team going forward, but there’s a long way to go. He has to make sure he keeps that level of performance up. If he does, then Arsenal will do very well.”

The Battle of Europe 2016 between England Masters and Germany Masters will be held on Saturday at the National Stadium (7pm).

Tickets are available at www.sportshub.com.sg/sportshubtix or www.mastersfootball.com.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.