ED WOODWARD must be fuming after Mino Raiola’s attack on his running of Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s take on the super-agent’s slur on the club he took to greatness would almost certainly be unprintable.
Yet for all that Raiola’s rant can be seen as self–serving in the on–going battle to extricate Paul Pogba from Old Trafford — and thus pick up his ten per cent — some might argue that he may have a general point.
Some such as Jose Mourinho or Louis van Gaal.
It is interesting that, in his condemnation of United’s methods, Raiola offers Juventus as the kind of set-up better for Pogba.
Pogba, of course, left for the Italians for next to nothing in 2012 before returning in 2016 for a club record £89million.
But having made two substitute appearances since returning from his recent ankle injury, the Frenchman was not pictured with United’s travelling squad for tonight’s clash with Arsenal.
If he is absent — after missing Saturday’s 2-0 win over Burnley — that will only add to the tensions now running within Old Trafford.
Especially as, in his attack on the club, Raiola scathed: “Paul needs a team and a club like Juventus.”
Mourinho also hailed Juve and their methods two months before executive vice–chairman Ed Woodward made him The Sacked One.
Following a 1–0 Champions League defeat in October 2018 to the Old Lady — which was, in reality, a technical humiliation — Mourinho showed how unhappy he was with the set-up under Woodward.
Speaking of the way the Serie A serial winners were run by chairman Andrea Agnelli, he said: “My compliments to Juventus is about their philosophy and the basic things behind it.
“I was speaking with Mr Agnelli and I was telling him since I left Inter, he has seven Serie A titles and it looks like the eighth is coming. And he replied: ‘I don’t want the eighth. I want ten in a row’.
“That’s a fantastic statement.
“They always want more and more. I think the objective of the club is happiness related to football results.”
Mourinho did not feel sufficiently backed in the summer of 2018 — or that the right players were being brought in.
The only major signing to arrive at Old Trafford during that window was £52m Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, who Mourinho never took to.
Ironically the Brazilian is now being compared by Mourinho’s successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to the legendary Paul Scholes.
Old Trafford fans complain that, despite being a commercial genius who has brought in hundreds of millions in sponsorship and corporate deals, Woodward should not be running the football side.
In June, Mourinho’s predecessor Van Gaal said Woodward was: “Somebody with zero understanding of football who was previously an investment banker.”
It could be argued Woodward has left himself open.
Since 2013, when he took over from CEO David Gill as Ferguson was retiring, he has overseen spending of more than £850m.
During that same period bitter rivals Liverpool have splashed out around £620m.
Yet they have won the Champions League, the Club World Cup and are miles in front in the current title race having last year missed out by a point.
Manchester City — who Solskjaer says his side are nowhere near yet in terms of style — have spent £963m during that same time frame.
But they have won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup four times.
United since 2013 have won the FA Cup under Van Gaal.
Mourinho lifted the 2017 Europa League and that year also the League Cup, saying he had swum the Channel in doing so with the squad he had. Solskjaer insists his United are on the up, stressing: “We’re improving.
“I think we can see more and more of what we want to be and our identity and what we’re good at. We’re making games suit our style more and more.
“We’ve played the same way for a little while and we’re getting used to each other.
“I’ve said we’re not a Manchester City, we can’t play, out-play and out-football teams like they do quite yet but hopefully in a few years we can.
“It’s not going to be overnight. It’s only them who can do that.
“We are more with fast-flowing, quicker attacking but if you can mix that with what we have then we’ve got a chance.”
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