Jose Mourinho is one of the very few candidates who could
tick the boxes as an eventual successor to Sir Alex
Ferguson
As a Manchester United fan waiting for today's draw for
the Champions League quarter-finals, I'd have to hope for one of
the relatively less formidable sides – say CSKA Moscow – but the
cliché of no easy games at this stage is a cliché because it's
true.
As somebody who loves the thrill of the big occasion,
we should be guaranteed at least one or two "Look who it is!" ties
of epic proportions. Jose Mourinho's Inter could be drawn to come
back to Old Trafford, where he first seared into our consciousness
in Europe with that dash along the touchline when Costinha scored
that goal as Porto beat United six years ago.
Or Mourinho could also get another shot at Arsenal. Or
Lauren Blanc could be back at Old Trafford with his exciting
Bordeaux team. Or Blanc could face other former teams of his in
Inter or Barcelona. Or how about Bordeaux and their Moroccan
striker Marouane Chamakh being sent to The Emirates, where Chamakh
is reportedly heading this summer? Or a rematch of United and
Barça? Mouth-watering.
The idea of Mourinho and United appeals because it
would be a smashing tie, and because Mourinho, in my view, is
United's kind of man, and we like to spar with the best.
Now, I wouldn't presume for a second to start
predicting who United's next manager will be. The Boss (Sir Alex
Ferguson) could still fancy another five years, in which case he'll
get them. But when he does leave, I think Mourinho is among a tiny
number who ticks the boxes as a candidate to replace him.
His team did superbly to eliminate Chelsea, by the way.
All the pundits thought they would come and park the bus, but they
subverted that assumption to play free-flowing football from the
start. The interchange between the strikers and the runs behind
took Chelsea by surprise, and Samuel Eto'o, Thiago Motta and Goran
Pandev each had decent chances before Eto'o actually scored.
Like him or loathe him (I like him), Mourinho is a
character. He's won titles in Portugal, England and Italy. He's a
serial winner and that's the type of person that suits United.
Personally, I think the Premier League has missed Mourinho and will
be enhanced when he comes back as a Premier League manager, as I'm
certain he will one day.
Chelsea's exit from Europe is not such good news for
United because it leaves Chelsea to concentrate on the league.
Roman Abramovich cannot be relishing yet another season without a
decent trophy: league or European, that is.
On the subject of returning idols, it goes without
saying that I wish my friend and former United team-mate David
Beckham the swiftest and most complete recovery possible from his
torn Achilles tendon. It was obvious from the pictures on the night
the injury happened that Becks was devastated but I know him, and
he will bounce back. He always has done, whatever the setback,
sporting, professional or private.
I feel for him especially because he now won't go to
that fourth World Cup. I'm absolutely certain that if he'd not got
injured that Fabio Capello would have included him. He wouldn't
necessarily have started games in South Africa but Capello is canny
enough to know he would offer an option later in games, and that
his deliveries could make that fraction of difference at an
impasse.
Beckham was a fantastic servant for Manchester United,
and he was a team-mate for the entirety of my own career at Old
Trafford between 1995 and 2001. He's also been a fine player for
England over the years. Yes, we know he's surrounded by a bit of
circus these days, and there's always some razzamatazz or other
going on around him. But I've always found him to be a good guy who
above everything gets on with his job as a professional.
Whatever nonsense you might read about bosses being in
thrall to his celebrity, his consistency on the pitch over years
and year is what's made him so special to his managers at club and
international level. His private life doesn't – and shouldn't come
into it. That's down to him. Each of us to our own.
As for Becks' ability to recover from all manner of
knocks, literal or metaphorical, I've never known anyone like him.
I would think you probably can't go much lower professionally – in
the public perception – than being sent off for your country at a
World Cup and then being burned in effigy by idiots on your return,
and demonised by millions.
I was his United team-mate at that stage, 1998. And how
did Becks react? Quietly, without fuss, and proving himself with
his performances, on the pitch, in a 1998-99 season that ended in
our Treble.
Yes, an Achilles injury at his age is bad. But do I see
Beckham coming back, playing on? Of course. It's as certain as some
tasty Champions League quarter-finals.