Brighton defeat exposes José Mourinho’s shrinking sphere of influence | Paul Doyle

The Manchester United manager once held sway over all he surveyed but a subdued summer at Old Trafford has seen a once-dominant figure losing the control he craves

José Mourinho’s irritation with the “movie” that Manchester City released last week was mild compared to his anger at the horror show that Manchester United made him sit through when losing at Brighton in May. He did not want to see a repeat of that performance on his latest visit. But the sequel was worse.

In May there was an excuse. Mourinho had not picked a full-strength team, instead giving a clutch of fringe players a chance to impress before the FA Cup final. They blew it. “Some of them are not as good as they think they are,” Mourinho shot after that match before confessing to a failure of his own: “I did not succeed in persuading them the points were important.” Maybe he felt like bawling something similar after this reverse but he said could not reveal his true thoughts.

Continue reading...