Jose Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal in the summer (Picture: Getty)

Jose Mourinho’s appointment in the summer will have divided Manchester United fans, but times have changed at Old Trafford and it had got to a point where the club had nowhere else to turn.

The failed experiments of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal had left United a broken shell of their former selves. ‘I think I found a sad club (here)’ Mourinho himself admitted about his new club.

Still, in the era of super clubs and with the Premier League’s transformation this season into the Managerial Super League, the Portuguese’s appointment made sense for a team looking to get its mojo back – let’s face it, few in the game are as well-equipped to provide that as Jose.

We’ve profiled the performances of Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp so far this season, now it’s Mourinho’s turn to go under the spotlight…

Start of season expectations

Mourinho has a big job on his hands at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty)

Expectations are always high at United, with even the dismal results and quality of football on show in recent years not enough to dampen that. Even so, the slippery start to the post-Ferguson era has also breathed a sense of realisation into the club – no manager in world football is going to stroll in bring the glory years back straight away, or, according to Mourinho himself, perhaps ever.

Mourinho on United challenge

‘We are not ready to be Manchester United. We are not ready to be the dominant force. We are not ready to try to win everything. Because of our nature, we are ready to fight for everything, every point, but there is a space between the general ambition of a giant club and what we are in reality.’

Trophies will have been on the agenda for the United big wigs, and the one they will have craved most is the one they’ve picked up so many times in the last few decades – the Premier League title.

At the very least, after dropping out of the top four in two of the last three seasons, cementing United’s place among Europe’s elite once again will have been seen as an absolute must for the new boss.

In many ways, a lose-lose situation for Mourinho, who did not inherit a side capable of winning the title, but who inherited a history that means anything less will likely be seen as under-achievement. No wonder he’s called it the biggest challenge of his career.

Achievements so far

Not many managers are as positively addicted to scooping up trophies as Mourinho – he’s got two to his name already this season, picking up both of the ones on offer with minimal fuss.

Manchester United won the League Cup final in February (Picture: Getty)

Sure, United will be thinking bigger than the League Cup and Community Shield, but in both spells at Chelsea the Special One showed us the importance of getting your hands on silverware as soon as possible – the smaller cups all acted as a precursor to the more prestigious silverware that would come later.

You know what you’re going to get with Mourinho – and if trophies come with the territory then so does a resolute defence. United’s is statistically the second best in the country this season, and that’s with the likes of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones playing like world beaters. Antonio Valencia has even adapted so well to playing at right-back that his manager called him the best in the world in the position without being laughed out of Manchester, which truly shows the scale of the job he’s done.

Other highlights include a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, and, more recently, *finally* getting the side out of sixth place after it looked like they might be stuck there until the end of time.

Perhaps most importantly for the Old Trafford crowd, however, is that United are finally playing some more entertaining football after the dross served up by Moyes and LVG in the three seasons previously. It’s not yet at the level it was under Ferguson (will it ever be?), but it’s a start.

Low points

Well, with a quick glance back to the ‘Start of season expectations’ section, it’s fair to say he’s not quite making the grade at the present time.

Sure, there is still enough time for things to change and United have generally improved as the season’s gone on, but for most of this campaign they have been cemented in sixth place, and their performances have often reflected their league position.

United have struggled when this guy’s not on song (Picture: Getty)
United have struggled when this guy’s not on song (Picture: Getty)

Summer signings Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have blown hot and cold for the most part, and despite the reliability of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in front of goal, they have lacked another genuine threat in that area, leading to dropped points in winnable games against Stoke, Burnley, Hull and Bournemouth, to name a few.

United lived up to their billing as title contenders for the first few games of the season, but have since then looked nowhere near the level of Conte’s Chelsea – itself a truly damning verdict on the 54-year-old’s work at Stamford Bridge last season.

They’ve been thoroughly unconvincing in the big games as well, with a 1-0 at home to Tottenham their only win against their top six rivals so far, and an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Chelsea in the league earlier in the season. Clearly scarred by the experience, Mourinho went ultra defensive against the Blues in the FA Cup last week, only to lose again, albeit by just the one goal this time – that’s not exactly the level of progress United are looking for.

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And finally, alongside trophies and a well-drilled defence in the Mourinho package, there have also been the usual unpleasant post-match rants and long list of people (sorry, ‘enemies’) to blame, from referees, the FA, and when that fails, his own players.

Tactical reputation

Is Mourinho still ahead of the game tactically? (Picture: Getty)

Mourinho’s tactics will be under more scrutiny than ever after seeming to lose his touch in recent years – none more so than with Chelsea last season. And even when his Blues side strolled to the title in 2014/15, that old air of invincibility seemed to be missing.

Still wedded to a strategy where defence comes first, Mourinho has at least shown some commitment to respecting United’s traditions by getting the side to play some good football this season, particularly at home.

However, old habits die hard and recent experiments with at times six at the back just don’t look as inspired as they used to – Chelsea had no trouble against them in the cup last Monday, and it’s clear that the Portuguese has slightly struggled to keep up with the changes in the game over the last few years.

Mourinho has been outclassed by Antonio Conte twice this season (Picture: Getty)
Mourinho has been outclassed by Antonio Conte twice this season (Picture: Getty)

Most attacks are far more sophisticated now than they were when Mourinho was shutting them out week after week in his early days in the Premier League, so he can no longer rely on simply parking the bus and hoping to nick a goal.

Ultimately, his side’s position in the table and record in the big games points to a manager who is no longer ahead of his peers in the way he once was. The question now is, can he change?

Objectives for the rest of the season

With the title and FA Cup gone, Mourinho is now aiming for the absolute minimum requirement of bringing Champions League football back to Old Trafford next season.

A top four spot is certainly achievable if the Reds end the season well, and there’s also the option of qualifying by winning the Europa League.

United are through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League (Picture: Getty)
United are through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League (Picture: Getty)

Few fans will have been blown away by the prospect of the EFL Cup and Europa League being United’s only trophy wins at the start of the season, but ambitions have to be altered as the season goes on, and if United finish the campaign with those two cups in the trophy cabinet, even missing out on the top four might be deemed acceptable.

Still, as much as silverware is welcome, United will feel that the Europa League in particular is not the kind of trophy they want to be winning, as it’s not a competition they even want to be in. Finishing as close as possible to Chelsea in the league will surely be seen as a better reflection of progress being made under Mourinho, so that has to be the priority. Second place is very much up for grabs, and would be United’s highest finish since winning the title in 2012/13.

Man Utd's remaining games

West Brom (H) – Sat 1 Apr
Everton (H) – Tue 4 Apr
Sunderland (A) – Sun 9 Apr
Anderlecht (A) – Thu 13 Apr
Chelsea (H) – Sun 16 Apr
Anderlecht (H) – Thu 20 Apr
Burnley (A) – Sun 23 Apr
Man City (A) – Thu 27 April
Swansea (H) – Sun 30 April
Arsenal (A) – Sat 6 May
Tottenham (A) – Sat 13 May
Crystal Palace (H) – Sun 21 May

Job safety

Despite things not going exactly to plan, United’s unique rebuilding situation means Mourinho’s position is surely pretty safe.

United are not the walking disaster they were under Moyes and Van Gaal, and that should afford a manager of this calibre at least another season to put things right.

That said, recent Mourinho teams have had a habit of blowing up quickly – one or two bad results can lead to one rant too many and be followed by a total meltdown. If that were to happen, and the side slid significantly down the table whilst dropping out of the Europa League, questions will surely be asked.

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