I don't think he used to be like that.
His Real Madrid experience broke him.
His whole thing is getting results as charismatic leader of a talented squad with an inferiority complex. It was a huge success at Porto, and when combined with a chequebook at Chelsea and Inter the results were spectacular.
But the inferiority complex is key because it's a confidence trick, so when he tried it at Real Madrid with players who knew they were the best it went horribly wrong, and then same at Chelsea second time around because they didn't feel like the underdogs anymore.
Modern Utd surely aren't so feeble, yet, that they'll lap up his shtick for very long. You can imagine the likes of Herrera or Fellaini loving it, but there are still some genuinely talented players there who've achieved stuff.