Former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon has suggested that his former club and ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho must work through their differences in order for United to succeed. Kenyon, who was in charge at the club from 2000 to 2003 after the departure of Martin Edwards, took the same role at Stamford Bridge for six years and worked with Mourinho for three seasons, winning the Premier League twice the Portuguese.
“He is more than capable – one of the best coaches in the world – but have they got it right? No,” said Kenyon on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportweek. “I think the first people to recognise that will be the people at United.
“They have to work it out and they’ll find a way of working it out. United is bigger than anybody, bigger than any individual and that’s always been the mantra. It will get worked out and I would hope Jose is part of that working it out because he is incredibly skilled and he’s demonstrated he can do things.”
Kenyon’s comments come in the wake of a summer of discontent for his former club, with Mourinho offering frequently negative comments during his interactions with the press for the last several weeks. A lack of players due to the World Cup certainly hasn’t helped, but the Portuguese has also been frustrated by the lack of transfer business, with a new centre back seemingly atop his list. Given that the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan manager has left several jobs in acrimonious circumstances having approached a new campaign with an adversarial state of mind, there are plenty of reasons to be less-than confident about United’s chances of success. A new central defender should help the manager’s mood, and hopefully, with the talent at his disposal, the current situation will soon calm down.