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#1 Mourinho's Brand of Football
Jose Mourinho is The Special One for a good reason. He has a history of winning the biggest trophies. But he wins them only in his own special way. That's the flip side of geniuses. They are very reluctant to change.
Mourinho prefers to play with the lone striker. His style of football is pragmatic where winning is all that matters. His two title winning spells at Chelsea are proof of that. Last season at Manchester United, he was a bit more adventurous going forward and could not secure the top spot. Which might make him return to his more conservative methods this season.
At Chelsea, Mourinho specialized in shutting up shop at 1-0. He also loves to 'park the bus' when he thinks its acceptable not to lose at any cost whatsoever. In either of the above scenarios he is also prone to replacing / substituting his lone striker with a more defensive minded midfielder / attacker.
Yes Ronaldo and Mourinho have worked together in the past and won trophies at Real Madrid. But the requirements of the Premier League are different than La Liga. Will Mourinho be willing to play Romelu Lukaku and Ronaldo in the same side on a regular basis? Highly unlikely. Will he drop Lukaku for Ronaldo? Again unlikely. So what will be Ronaldo's role at United?
This is a serious quandary for Ronaldo. Juan Mata is not at the same level as Ronaldo. But his role under Mourinho at both United and Chelsea should raise alarm bells for Ronaldo.
If last night's performance is anything to go by, Ronaldo still has two to three years at the very top. He would prefer to play in a team where he is still the one around whom the team shapes up. He would also like to boost his goals tally by playing in a more free flowing league.
All these factors stack up against his move to Manchester United. Mourinho's style of play will not get the best out of Ronaldo. Perhaps PSG or the Chinese Super League would be more to his liking.
