xGunners: Please no Jose Mourinho

I typically write with and about statistics, but this will be different. Today I want to voice my opinion that I don’t want Jose Mourinho to be the next coach of Arsenal Football Club.

Let me first say that I believe that Mourinho is still a good coach, and that he is with a high degree of certainty better than Unai Emery. He would likely give Arsenal a very good chance of winning the Europa League and finishing in the top four this season.

All of that being said, the cost to the club and what it stands for would be tremendous. There is mounting evidence that the style of play that Mourinho employs doesn’t have the same effectiveness that it once had. His collapse at the end of his second Chelsea stint and his time at Manchester United help illustrate this.

Arsenal’s management have talked an awful lot being about doing things the right way, aka “the Arsenal way.” This isn’t always perfect and their have been compromises made with the aim of trying to win. Mourinho would be a move to far for me.

Winning is important and fun but one of the things that draws people to Arsenal is that it isn’t the only thing. If winning is the only thing, everyone would be a Chelsea or Manchester City or Real Madrid fan (where Mourinho would or did fit in well).

Arsenal strive to play a certain entertaining style of football, and Mourinho (like our current manager) focuses much more on a pragmatic style where entertainment is a distant consideration. Arsenal strive to promote youth players, Mourinho is well known for not trusting youth players.

Mourinho is also one of the biggest “checkbook managers” in the history of the sport, he has had great teams but they have been built on the back of spending loads of money to bring in players at the peak of their talents. Arsenal are not a poor club but I have doubts that with the current self funding model that is used that they can accumulate the funds required for Mourinho to build the team that he wants. Mourinho is also a short term coach, with a short term mindset when he is building a team. I think that this is exactly the wrong style for Arsenal in their current situation.

I want to enjoy my time watching and thinking about Arsenal, and having Jose Mourinho as manager would not allow me to do this. He may covet the Arsenal job, but hopefully Arsenal do not share that sentiment.