Why genius Mourinho must be the next Man United boss

By Robbie Savage

Published 22:30 18/03/10

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Jose Mourinho is more than a manager. He is the man.

I told you here last week that Real Madrid should move heaven and earth to make him their next boss, but after his triumphant return to Stamford Bridge I've got something even bigger in mind.

There are persistent rumours linking Jose with Liverpool but I think he would be crazy to go there if Rafa Benitez goes. They need more than the four world-class players Fernando Torres is asking for and that makes it too big a rebuilding job with owners who don't seem to have the deepest pockets.

No, I think Mourinho has to wait it out for Sir Alex Ferguson's job when the great man retires.

Jose is the only manager in the world with the force of personality big enough to take over from the best boss ever.

The sticking point has always been the fact that Mourinho is supposed to be defensively-minded while United fans demand attacking football.

So what an audition Tuesday night was. Italian teams - especially those protecting a lead - are supposed to sit back and stifle.

Instead, Inter tore into Chelsea in the second half with a brilliant display and they should have had more goals.

The Blues were shell-shocked and probably for the first time, the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack looked their age.

Chelsea's great team are coming to the end of their cycle and I don't see the young players ready to step up which Fergie always seems to have at Old Trafford.

No wonder Carlo Ancelotti, who must now dismantle the team Jose built, is planning a wave of new signings for summer.

He is right to be setting his sights on David Villa but if I were him I would use the £50m apparently earmarked for Fernando Torres to bring Steven Gerrard to Stamford Bridge.

The game at Manchester United on April 3 is now even bigger than before, and a loss would virtually end Chelsea's season.

Mind you, an unlikely defeat against Liverpool on Sunday would do the same for United.

And I'm starting to feel more and more like Arsenal are going to come up on the rails and snatch the title.

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Adam Pearson is a mate of mine from his time at Derby but I'm struggling to understand his decision to sack Phil Brown.

I can never fathom dumping a manager when the transfer window is closed. It makes it virtually impossible for the new man to change things around.

Phil is a great bloke and it's a shame he'll be remembered for his on-pitch half-time team talk at Manchester City rather than being the man who took Hull to the promised land.

I'm sure he does regret that incident at Manchester City - I talked to several top players about it at the time and the consensus is that we'd all have walked to the dressing rooms and left him to it!

But he was one minute away from a great result at home to Arsenal last Saturday and as a top keeper myself, I think Boaz Myhill should have turned the ball around the post rather than giving Niklas Bendtner an easy chance to score. If he had done, Phil would probably still be in a job.

As it is, I'm sure it won't be long before he finds another - and in the meantime there's always Soccer Saturday!

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Follow me on Twitter: RobbieSavage8.

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