The warning signs were there from an early stage during Jose Mourinho’s third season at Old Trafford.
Everywhere he went, from Spain to Italy to England, the Portuguese manager had unraveled after three years at the helm.
He clashed with Roman Abramovich in his first stint at Chelsea over a lack of transfer funds and the appointment of Avram Grant as the Director of Football.
At Madrid he clashed with Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo before his eventual departure from the Bernabeu in 2013.
He returned to Chelsea for a second stint and won a Premier League title before losing nine of 16 league games in his third season, in a campaign that will be remembered most notably for his criticisms of club doctor Eva Caneiro in an incident that eventually led to a £5 million settlement.
Then he landed the job at Manchester United where he won a League Cup, a Community Shield and a Europa League title in his first two years before things started to unravel again in his third season at the club.
Apart from winning just seven of his first 17 league games, here were some of the noticeable flashpoints before his eventual departure from the club in December:
- He complained about Anthony Martial not returning to United’s pre-season tour of America following the birth of his second child Swan.
- He said that he would not have paid to watch his United side’s performance against Liverpool after their 4-1 pre-season loss in San Jose.
- He consistently complained about a lack of funds to acquire players in the transfer market.
- He dropped Paul Pogba, stripped him of the vice-captaincy and engaged in a public spat with him at training over his social media use.
- He demanded respect and insisted that he was one of the greatest managers in the world following United’s 3-0 loss at home to Spurs.
- He asked how could Alexis Sánchez be “very happy with the players around him”.
He created a tornado of misery that had ripped through yet another club and he was duly replaced by club legend and Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, albeit, on an interim basis.
There was some initial skepticism regarding the Solskjaer appointment given that the Norwegian’s only previous experience in management stemmed from his time with Molde and a campaign with Cardiff City that saw the Welsh side relegated from the Premier League.
However, such concerns were quickly alleviated with Solskjaer reeling off eights wins from his first nine league games in charge and a surprising comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Overall, the former United striker has won 14 of 19 games in charge with two draws and three defeats.
His side have scored 40 goals and conceded just 17 times, with goals scored in 84% of their matches and goals conceded in 63% of their matches.
The statistics make for stark reading in comparison to Mourinho’s time in charge earlier this season where United had won 10 games, drew seven and lost a further seven during a turbulent 24 game spell.
Mourinho’s side were not too far off in terms of their attack with 38 goals scored over that spell but they were twice as bad defensively after conceding 35 goals, for an average of 1.46 goals per game.
The players with the most marked improvement in United’s squad have been Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku.
Pogba has scored nine goals and provided seven assists in 17 games under Solskjaer, compared to just five goals and four assists in 20 games under Mourinho.
Rashford has scored eight goals in 18 games and provided two assists during Solskjaer’s reign, compared to four goals and five assists under Mourinho, while Lukaku, one of Mourinho’s biggest signings during his tenure at the club, has scored nine goals in 16 games under Solskjaer compared to just six goals in 22 games before his arrival.
However, one of the biggest risers under Mourinho has been defender Victor Lindelof. The Swedish centre-back was largely viewed as a bust until Solskjaer’s arrival but the Norwegian has helped him discover some of his best form at Old Trafford with Lindelof starting 12 of 13 games in defence, conceding just 11 goals during that period.
Lindelof played 13 games under Mourinho to start this season and conceded a total of 21 goals.
United are much improved under Solskjaer and his appointment has been largely lauded by many fans and pundits with no other team winning as many points as United in the Premier League since his arrival late last year.
Time will tell if he can overcome future challenges in recruitment, the transfer market and second season syndrome but for the moment he’s been a revelation at Old Trafford and he has now finally been handed the car keys after a very good start to life behind the wheel.
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