Richard Buxton: Time to take a break, Mourinho

Management is an addiction which Jose Mourinho simply cannot kick.

No matter how often the vicious circle repeats, Manchester United's beleaguered manager remains entrenched in a process where antagonism breeds acrimony and abject results.

It will never change because the Special One steadfastly refuses to change himself.

A goalless draw with Valencia yesterday morning (Singapore time) evidenced that he is not for turning.

United have recorded their joint-worst start to a season since 1989/1990 and could find themselves out of two cup competitions before Christmas, in addition to being also-rans in the English Premier League.

As things stand, with a current run of four winless matches, Mourinho will likely be gone with it.

He has only himself to blame for the Red Devils being mired in such freewheeling chaos.

Ordinary teams have been made to look impressive; their Spanish counterparts won just one of their seven previous games; West Ham had one in six while League Cup vanquishers Derby County sat 19 places beneath them in the English football pyramid.

Even parking the bus now appears to be beyond the Portuguese's control when it cannot even arrive at Old Trafford on time, as it failed to do for this Champions League encounter.

Mourinho's trouble is that he never knows when to quit while he still remains ahead. Pursuing a happily-ever-after which will never arrive is symptomatic of United's wilderness period.

They have continually sought to recapture a paradise lost at any cost, both financial and moral.

His long-standing nemesis, Pep Guardiola, had the right idea; when Barcelona's pressure cooker left its most famous son mentally fatigued, he sought inspiration from Eat Pray Love.

The Catalan uprooted to New York for a 12-month sabbatical. He did what came naturally; rented a flat overlooking Central Park and befriended former chess champion Garry Kasparov.

Absence made the heart grow fonder and Guardiola's stint in the Big Apple is two-fold proof.

His aura did not diminish nor did his appetite for the game during that uninterrupted year-long spell.

Indeed, Sir Alex Ferguson travelled Stateside as part of an attempted charm offensive to line up the Catalan as his successor at the Theatre of Dreams.

Ferguson saw Guardiola as United's Mr Right. Ultimately, they ended up with Mr Right Now.

In times of crisis, one took to the skies while the other continually retreats to the shadows.

Struggling with withdrawal symptoms is not exclusive to Mourinho; Juergen Klopp spent barely four months between leaving Borussia Dortmund and taking the reins at Liverpool.

But even elite coaches require respite periods. Carlo Ancelotti, a fellow serial club-hopper at elite level, took over a year out between stints with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Mourinho, conversely, has continually taken up the next big job that presented itself. A combined 14 months away were made possible by two abrupt departures from Chelsea.

The 55-year-old's fixation with remaining a front-line figure has reduced him to the fiendish character who met sharp demises at Stamford Bridge and the Bernabeu.

Emotion, rather than reason, dominates Mourinho's thinking as he wages war in a verbal shoot-on-sight policy.

Guardiola knew that the game was almost up at the Nou Camp when he declared that, "The day I see the light go out of my players' eyes, I'll know it's time to go".

With United's players appearing increasingly dead-eyed, Mourinho should finally take the hint.