Manchester finds itself in the grip of summer madness as Mourinho baffles the media and the fans protest against the Glazers. It was noticeable that towards the end of his Manchester United career, José Mourinho had become eccentric and that there were signs that even his perspective and previously unshaken self belief had been damaged.

🗣 Jose Mourinho: "My friends tell me 'enjoy your time, enjoy your July, enjoy your August, enjoy what you never had'.

"Honestly, I can't enjoy. I am not happy enough to enjoy. I miss my football." pic.twitter.com/qMMNLeczn9

— GOAL (@goal) July 30, 2019

Mourinho had almost become a caricature of himself. The one time darling of the media, shared a challenging relationship towards the end of his tenure but in truth, his reversal in fortunes had been coming as far back as his ill fated second stint at Chelsea.

Sky’s recent brown nosing documentary, which hung on to the special ones every word and followed Mourinho down a shoreline, portrayed the Portuguese in magnificently dippy and delusional form. Of course he spoke about himself, a lot but then Mourinho went off on a tangent, almost unable to take the time to listen to what was coming out.

Mourinho must have had many role models in his career but no one realised that Charles Darwin might be in that group of influencers.
Charles Darwin ? who did he manage ?  I’m joking, I know who he is.

Mourinho has been on a sabbatical since he and United parted company. So what’s he been doing ? Thinking, lots of thinking because he kept mentioning it. Mourinho said of his time off,

“This is basically the first time I have time to think, the first time I am in Setubal at the end of July or beginning of August in more than 20 years,”

He went on,

“I have some time to think, to rethink, to analyse and what I feel is exactly that ‘Ze’ is full of fire!”

‘Ze’ is apparently a boyhood nickname and Mourinho constantly referred to himself in the sense of a third person. It was all so bizarre that one expected a nurse to trundle along with a small plastic medication pot and a glass of water.

When Mourinho hears United have signed Maguire. #JusticeForJose pic.twitter.com/gmJh9fcWUy

— 🔰 Totally Man Utd™ 🔰 (@TotallyMUFC) August 2, 2019

But Mourinho or ‘Ze’ was in full swing,

“Ze has to be Ze and Ze until the last day, but I don’t see the last day because my next move will be like the start! I don’t feel it’s just one more year in accumulation of how many years I’ve worked, how many titles I’ve won. That is history, that is the museum!”

Mmm, we all know that ‘Ze’ is never happier than when talking about himself but this was even new for him. We know he’s rested, we know he’s at least £17m richer with another generous compensation package.

READ MORE : Is Man United Headed For More Misery In The Transfer Market This Summer?

We also know that he’s become a fan of Charles Darwin and that it will apparently help him in his next venture and that he has jettisoned a number of associates because of his failure at United.

It was an eye opening encounter but his next topic was as strange as anything he’d uttered before. This time he mentioned the ‘Mourinhista’s’ . Lady Gaga has her little monsters and Mourinho has…his Mourinista’s, nothing odd about that surely ?

Mourinho informed us,

“The most difficult thing for me is saying ‘no’ to the possibilities, I had to work, because, inside of me, I [always] have that impulse of wanting to work. [If] I have an opportunity to work, [I want to say] ‘let’s work’. To say ‘no’ is very, very, very, very difficult.

Why do I say ‘no’? I say ‘no’ because it’s not [at] the level of challenge that I want. But, with all respect to the possibilities I have had and the clubs involved, I want the right to choose the people who are ‘Mourinhista’ – like people say in Portugal, Spain and Italy – ‘Mourinhista’ is someone who is a fan.

The ‘Mourinhistas’ want me where I belong, so, for me now, it’s not a question of [saying], ‘okay I have this offer and I’m going to take it’. I have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity and the right opportunity is one that is at the same size and the same level that I am as a manager”

So that was that, the highlights if you like but then the madness seemed to be contagious because Manchester United fans wrote an open letter to the Glazers detailing concerns over a “club in decline”.

Not too dissimilar to Arsenal’s offering to Stan Kroenke, which prompted his son Josh to come out firefighting. The difference here is that whilst Arsenal have been frugal for most of Kroenke’s ownership, the Glazers have poured money into the club.

Over £700m has gone into keeping Manchester United at the top and of course its failed to achieve its aim but DONT claim that United’s owners haven’t backed their managers. Only Manchester City and Chelsea have spent more in the transfer market. Their current plight is caused by picking the wrong manager, who in turn, bought the wrong players and that’s it in a nutshell.

Marouane Fellaini wasn’t good enough, Juan Mata works hard but he isn’t up to the standard required and as for Jessie Lingard, he is United’s equivalent of Dele Alli, occasional sparks but often blisteringly ordinary.

Jose Mourinho is reportedly a candidate to take over at #Valencia 👀

Would he be a good fit? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/WxyB38o6xt

— ShotOnGoal (@shotongoal247) July 31, 2019

Behind this Mancunian nightmare is Ed Woodward and if anyone needs to be made accountable it’s surely him. The fact that his parents chose to call him Edward with a name like Woodward is enough of an indication that something isn’t right !

Woodward has failed United for years, not the Glazers. United fans are a delusional bunch, complaining about their newfound lack of success after enjoying years of unprecedented triumph.

Like the sudden realisation at Arsenal, United will have to go backwards before heading forward by finding the bones of a team that can stand and fight it out for points and trophies.

READ MORE : Manchester United Really Need To Double Their Efforts In The Transfer Window Or Risk Falling Further Behind

The problem is compounded by massive fees and wages that United agreed in an effort to keep them in contention. It obviously failed to deliver but the Glazers always backed the club.

I’m fairly staggered by this recent backlash for the owners and put simply, if Stan Kroenke put half of the investment into Arsenal that his fellow Americans put into United, he would have the keys to Islington.

Summer is sometimes said to bring madness, it must be incredibly hot in Manchester at present.