Special One became the Ordinary One
THE writing was on the wall for Jose Mourinho at Manchester United as far back as the summer.
From the moment he publicly criticised the United board for their perceived failure to back him sufficiently in the transfer market, his fate was effectively sealed.
Poor results, turgid football, fallouts with players, as well as a failure to grasp United’s rich attacking heritage and his obligation to honour it, proved Mourinho’s downfall and culminated in his dismissal.
With United 19 points off Premier League leaders Liverpool, 11 points adrift of fourth place and having lurched unconvincingly into the last 16 of the Champions League, he simply had to go.
Sunday’s abject 3-1 defeat at archrivals Liverpool – a scoreline which ultimately flattered United – was the final straw for executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who summoned the Portuguese to the training ground just after 9am yesterday to end his two-anda-half year tenure.
United had sunk so low this season, with the atmosphere at the club’s Carrington training ground described as “toxic” under Mourinho and key players stalling on new deals while he remained in charge, there was only one course of action for Woodward.
Mourinho, hailed as a “trophy hunter” by Woodward just a year ago, was brought in, to great fanfare, as the only man capable of taking on and beating Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, in a repeat of their famous and bitter rivalry in Spain with Real Madrid and Barcelona.
But while Guardiola elevated City to new heights with his compelling style of play and a record-breaking Premier League title success last season, Mourinho was made to look like a tactical dinosaur by comparison, a manager whose best days were firmly behind him.
And with David De Gea, the best goalkeeper in the world, refusing to commit to a new deal while Mourinho remained in charge, striker Anthony Martial in the same boat and club record £89million signing Paul Pogba exiled to the bench, something had to give.
Mourinho left United with a worse defensive record than struggling Huddersfield, a goal difference of zero – the same as Leicester – and the same number of wins as Bournemouth, despite presiding over a £400m spend on 11 players while in charge.
United were warned in advance about the ‘third season syndrome’ that has been a feature of Mourinho’s career, where he starts to pick fights internally, falls out with everyone and creates such disorder and rancour he is eventually sacked. And so it has proved again.
Throughout the summer tour of the US, Mourinho was on a war footing with everyone and everything at United, his sullen and snarling demeanour setting the tone for a season that has proved even worse than those under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
From refusing to congratulate Pogba for his World Cup win with France to griping about a lack of backing from Woodward in the transfer market and predicting a “difficult” season as a result, Mourinho was hell-bent on creating chaos and disharmony.
United’s poor start to the season confirmed a club in freefall, with Mourinho fanning the flames of the crisis, rather than calming it.
They are no further forward than they were under Moyes or Van Gaal, which confirms the Special One was reduced to the Ordinary One during his spell at the Theatre of Dreams.
Pep’s lifting City to new heights, while Jose looks like a dinosaur