Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after 26 glorious years at Manchester United. Since then, there has been a shift in luck for the Red Devils. After horrible nine months under David Moyes and two drab and dull years under Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal, Man United went for one of the most successful managers of this century: Jose Mourinho.
After winning Community Shield, EFL Cup, and Europa League in his first season and securing a second-place finish in his next season, the Portuguese believe that he has been a success at United. But is that the case?
For a club which has won 20 league titles, does finishing second (and 19 points behind the champions Manchester City) count as an achievement? It might not be the case for the club and its fans, but it sure is for Jose Mourinho who labeled this as ‘one of his greatest ever achievements’.
Even though Man United finished with 81 points in 2017–18 season (which would have been enough to win the title in 6 Premier League seasons) they were not even close to winning the title. Yes, one would agree that City was unstoppable as they played gorgeous football and that was surely not the case with the other side of Manchester. With constant negative football across 38 game weeks, Man United never seemed to be in the title race.
Jose might have won three trophies at United, but his playing style has been short of what you would expect from a United team. Taking a back seat versus the big teams hoping to soak up the pressure and attack only when a chance is given ain’t the way Man United used to play. They were the team that dominated the proceedings and made sure that the other team played according to their rhythm and not in any other way.
This negative play style came back to haunt Mourinho in the transfer window of 18–19 season when players like Mateo Kovacic, Jerome Boateng, Diego Godin, and Axel Witsel rejected a move to the red devils as they did not want to play under the defensive football of Jose Mourinho. This was no less than an embarrassment for a club with great stature.
Jose Mourinho is a manager who just loves to be in one controversy or another and his United career has been full of them. From his fights with Antonio Conte to his public humiliation of Luke Shaw to his comments after the Sevilla defeat to his pre-season complaints at the start of 2018–19 season, Jose hasn’t stayed quiet. His ‘achievements’ seem to be overshadowed by his constant controversies. With United being one of the most reputed clubs, such situations leave their reputation stained.
In recent years, Mourinho’s achievements at the club may be classified as a success due to failures under the management of David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal, but overall, for a club like Manchester United which has achieved way too much success, his achievements are of not much value.