Explaining why Jose Mourinho failed at Manchester United
Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest football managers of all time and there is no denying in that regard as the Portuguese has won trophies in almost every club he has taken over. Furthermore, his charisma, leadership qualities, and the unique way he carries himself have made him a very peculiar figure in the game -some love his arrogance and nonchalant way of doing things while others downright despise him.
Lack of a proper structure
This isn't really related to Mourinho but rather to the issues that have plagued Manchester United after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013. It has been common knowledge in the club's recent history that the owners, the Glazers family, have been extremely underwhelming and the lack of a structure has affected most managers at the club.This was certainly the case during Mourinho's tenure as he struggled to get several target signings he wanted and felt that the club's infrastructure was lacking. That was made more obvious after his departure when he was extremely vocal about his issues when coaching United.
However, it is also worth pointing out that managers during the post-Ferguson years struggled with the Glazers. It is a rather consistent malice in that institution throughout the years.
An extremely conservative playing style
Mourinho has always been known for being a rather defensive manager and opting for pragmatism over attacking flair. That is something that became more and more obvious as the years went by in his career, although there is a strong argument to be made that he never fully recovered from his final disastrous season at Chelsea during the 2015/16 season.It has been stated by former players of his, such as Diego Milito and Eden Hazard, that Mourinho doesn't really coach attacking patterns and mostly focuses on the defensive side of things. That was shown persistently at United as his team would usually struggle to score some goals and would often opt for setting up defensively.
Perhaps the biggest example of this trend was when United faced Sevilla in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League in the 2017/18 season, with Mourinho setting up a very defensive-minded approach. This ultimately led to Sevilla defeating United at Old Trafford and qualifying for the quarterfinals, widely regarded as one of the club's worst nights in Europe.
Mourinho first made a name for himself in 2004 when he won the UEFA Champions League with Porto, widely regarded as the best upcoming manager and helping reshape the game during his time at Chelsea. However, by 2017 or 2018, Mourinho's style became a lot less effective, which has been shown in the last six or seven years of his career as he has failed to adapt to the modern game.
Falling out with several players
There is no denying that one of the biggest defining traits of Jose Mourinho as a manager is the fact that he can constantly have issues with his players. That has been a constant throughout his career and is very likely not going to change anywhere he goes, but his cases at United were perhaps some of the most controversial within that fanbase.Perhaps the most notorious example was French midfielder Paul Pogba. He was Mourinho's marquee signing in the summer of 2016 and United had paid a world record fee for the return of a player who was part of their academy. However, while the first season was mostly positive between the two of them, and Mourinho even made him club captain at one point in his tenure, things began to sour.
There is a now infamous video of Mourinho and Pogba looking at each other in a confrontational manner and the Portuguese manager slowly removed him from the starting position. Even when Pogba won the 2018 World Cup with France and played a key role, Mourinho was vocal that international football was a much better setting for the midfielder.
There were also the running issues with left-back Luke Shaw and forward Anthony Martial, with both players often serving as squad players and being undermined. Mourinho wanted to sell Martial in the summer of 2017 and complained that Shaw didn't want to play "through the pain barrier", with both players eventually revealing how much they struggled with the Portuguese.
Marcus Rashford might be the most interesting example as it seems that Mourinho's issues with him were not personal but strictly related to football. Mourinho felt that the Englishman was too raw to be a regular starter, which led to a lesser role after a breakthrough debut season with Louis van Gaal.
Conclusion
Jose Mourinho is a legendary manager and nothing is ever going to change that. However, since his debacle with Chelsea in late 2015, he has struggled to make an impact at top-level football and his stint at Manchester United was a very good example of that.While is true that the Red Devils had issues far greater than Mourinho, to the point that the club eventually went down to the same old habits a few years after his departure, the truth of the matter is that the Portuguese has never found himself at the peak like he did during his Porto, Chelsea, and Inter days.
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