Jose Mourinho and Manchester United: Where did it go wrong?

Jose Mourinho’s tenure as Manchester United boss is now over after the teams worst start to a season for 28 years. United currently sit 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool and anyone who watched the 3-1 defeat to the latter on Sunday, knows this team was way off the mark.

This was job Mourinho acknowledged he’d always wanted, but it never turned out to be what he had dreamed. From publicly criticising many of his players to spending over £400 million on them, Mourinho went through it all to turn United into the powerhouse he wanted to grace the Old Trafford pitch.

Mourinho and Manchester United had seemed like a very good matchup, two diverse personalities, ready to come together and put United on the European football map once again. But tensions were there from the start, despite winning two trophies within his first season. The league form wasn’t there and Mourinho being Mourinho was quick to deflect as much as possible away from himself. At first it was Luke Shaw, next it was Ed Woodward, then Anthony Martial and onto which ever player he could pick out, not forgetting the officials in there too.

Mourinho never managed to gain any success in the league and has struggled to get his team to grasp the Champions League, the negative football that was on display week in, week out and his attitude towards his team in the public that really was his downfall.

The Manchester United, Jose Mourinho relationship was always going to end badly should Mourinho not get what he wants, he demands the right players, the fans demand domestic success and when neither gets what they want, things become sour.

In the league, Mourinho’s teams lacked desire, adventure and that bit of quality needed to take a win home, his teams became lacklustre, defensive and all in all very negative and at a club with as much exposure as Manchester United, this was a big problem

Mourinho’s biggest issue, was his treatment of his players, after losses Mourinho would make it clear in his post-match Press Conferences his issues with his players. This proved to be fatal, especially with one player, £89.3 million player Paul Pogba. They often say a player is not bigger than the club, but when you spend that much on a footballer you can’t help but think he had a part in Mourinho’s exit after how he treated the player.

In truth it was lack of domestic success and his public attitude to club and players that really cost him his job. Manchester United now sit, once again, in limbo but maybe this is a lesson for those up above at United, that maybe a ‘Big Name’ a ‘Big Personality’ is not the best way forward for the red devils. The club needs to get the Old Trafford ‘Fear’ back, make it a fortress and a place teams fear going to play at. There is a lot that needs to be done at United, not just at the managerial position, but with Jose now gone, their next appointment is one they have to get right.