The Jose Mourinho debacle at Manchester United

Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson won his 13^th Premier League title in 2013 and decided to step down as the manager of Manchester United, the club has been destabilised.

It has been over five years since those turn of events, and United has only been able to win three major trophies. None of them were the 21^st Premier League title the team has been trying to get.

In fact, it has only been twice in the last five years when the team has finished in the top four. David Moyes and Louis van Gaal were given a fair shot at restoring the glory of Manchester United, but both of them had their shortcomings.

A proven manager in Jose Mourinho was brought in, and it is fair to say that this has been the toughest spell of being a manger for any of the other clubs he’s managed before.

He is one of the few coaches in the world who has won the league in three different countries and also won two UEFA Champions League with two different teams.

It is clear that he is a winner and doesn’t back down from challenges.

This is the third season for Mourinho with Manchester United. Last year he took United to finish higher than they ever have in the recent seasons, with a manager finish. Even though they were 19 points behind leaders Manchester City, the gap was down to the brilliance of Manchester City rather than lack of effort by Manchester United.

After the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, where one of the most important players for Jose Mourinho, Paul Pogba, showcased how well can he lead the team from the midfield, things got rough between the pair after some comments made by the manager in media.

“For the team to fight the way they did, with empathy, with solidarity and dignity to play together for Manchester United… one thing is clear: the team is united.” #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 27, 2018

But, to top all of these things off, Manchester United lost two of the first three games of the season for the first time in 25 years. The 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur has proven to cause some kneejerk reactions from pundits around the world. They want United to let go of ‘tired’ Mourinho and snap up recently freed Zinedine Zidane.

Furthermore, Zidane has a proven record of being a winner as well. He is the only manager in the history of football who has won three UEFA Champions League title in a row. A new challenge in the shape of Manchester United might intrigue Zidane who stepped down as the manager of Real Madrid.

However, if the performance against Tottenham Hotspur is looked at objectively, Jose Mourinho needs to be given some more time with this team. Yes, it has been more than two years since he has gotten the club, but he has still not been given the players he has demanded.

The first half against Tottenham saw Mourinho set up his team in such a way that they were attacking. If it wasn’t for the missed chances and unjust luck against them, the story of the match would’ve been different.

Manchester United will be going up against Burnley in the next game in the Premier League, and if the team loses that game as well, then the talks of him being ousted will only catch fire.