Manchester United have officially parted ways with their manager Jose Mourinho after the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool left them 19 points behind the league leaders.
It is official! Manchester United have announced the termination of Jose Mourinho’s contract with immediate effect. The Board has decided to let the Portuguese go after the recent 3-1 defeat at Liverpool in the Premier League left them a mammoth 19 points away from the league leaders, 11 away from the top four.
Jose Mourinho’s arrival was celebrated within the Manchester United fan base. While Louis Van Gaal did oversee United returning to the Champions League and got the club the FA Cup title they had not won for a long time, the style of play under the Dutchman was criticized, paving the way for Jose Mourinho take charge.
Manchester United has announced that Jose Mourinho has left the Club.
We would like to thank him for his work during his time at Manchester United and wish him success in the future. #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 18, 2018
Mourinho did arrive at United on the back of a successful but incomplete stint at Chelsea, with a disastrous start to the 2015-16 campaign spelling doom for him at Stamford Bridge. But, in his first season at the club, Manchester United bagged the EFL Cup and the Europa League, paving the club’s way back into the Champions League, despite finishing sixth in the Premier League.
The second season was trophy-less but showed just how good Manchester United could be. The players looked up for the title challenge and the team continued to put the ball into the back of the net with inundation. But, United lost steam midway into the season and finished second while being knocked out by Sevilla in the Champions League in a tie that had fans doubting Mourinho for the first time ever.
But, even before the 2018-19 season started, the lack of signings from Manchester United or perhaps, the lack of addition in required areas saw Jose Mourinho label it as a difficult campaign. And it indeed started to pan that way, with the Manchester United attack being left-heavy and the central defence producing mistake after mistake.
While there was a recent upturn in performances, Manchester United found themselves chasing the game in almost every game, something that saw the team draw most of their recent matches. The defeat to Valencia in the Champions League and the subsequent derby defeat to fierce rivals Liverpool in a game that saw Liverpool take 36 shots compared to United’s 6 acted as the final straw.
There are rumours that Jose Mourinho is on the radar of a couple of his former clubs and it will be interesting to see whether United will have to shell out the compensation package to the manager, a package that is reportedly around £24 million.
As far as Manchester United are concerned, the reports place Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an interim role at Old Trafford.
