This is Jose Mourinho’s third season as Manchester United’s manager and his relationship with some players and club owners has become frosty.
He recently stripped Paul Pogba of United’s captain armband and since then, their relationship has gone from bad to worse. In a video that went viral, Pogba and Mourinho could be seen exchanging words. According to lip readers, Mourinho asked Pogba to leave the training ground.
This is not the first time that Mourinho would be having problems in his third season. It has almost become inevitable that his third season in any club would be disastrous.
Last season, the club finished the season without winning any trophy. In the league they finished a record 19 points behind Manchester City, a club managed by his arch rival, Pep Guardiola.
As a result of a frustrating campaign, Mourinho lashed out at United’s owners for not spending big last summer.
This is the fourth time he is having this problem in his third season. Are the clubs at fault or is Mourinho the problem?
His first time in Chelsea was a successful one. He joined the Blues in 2004 on the back of winning the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto. The Portuguese manager signed for the London club and immediately boasted that he was the “special one.” And truly he was the “special one” as he ended the club’s 50-year title drought in the top position of English football.
He also set a record by winning the league with 95 points, a record that was broken by Antonio Conte, two seasons ago with the same club.
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The following season, Mourinho won the Premier League again. He won the Community Shield in 2005, Carling Cup which is now known as Carabao and the FA Cup in 2007.
The Portuguese almost got Chelsea to the Champions League final but was twice knocked out by Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool.
Following his outstanding performances in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge, things went bad in his third season.
He fell out with club owner, Roman Abrahamovic, after the club drew 1-1 with Rosenberg in the Champions League group stage. Reports had it that the special one’s relationship turned sour with the Russian billionaire because he fell out with Andriy Shevchenko who was one of the favourite players of the club owner.
He was told to resign or be fired in September 20017, right after the start of the new season. In 2008, he joined Inter Milan in Italy.
Mourinho had an incredibly successful spell at Inter where he became the first manager to win the UEFA Champions League at two different clubs, and started his time managing Real Madrid.
He was able to win the La Liga in his second season after accumulating 100 points. That is a record he still talks about.
In his three seasons at Real, he got to the semi-finals of the Champions League thrice. He got knocked out by Barcelona, Borrusia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively.
In his last season, he finished 15 points behind Barcelona in La liga and lost Copa Del Rey final to Athletico Madrid.
Like when he was at Chelsea, his third season at Madrid was a turbulent one. He had problems with key figures in the team such as Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo. Fans became divided. There was bad blood in the club. Someone had to leave.
The controversial manager added Karim Benzema to the list of his enemies when he referred to him as “a cat.” When his first choice striker Gonzalo Higuain was injured, Mourinho said, “If I can’t hunt with a dog, I will hunt with a cat.”
On top of the problems he had with the management and players, Real Madrid ended the season trophy-less. He left the club by mutual agreement a few days after the end of the season.
Mourinho returned to Chelsea for the second time in 2014. His second time at Stamford Bridge was like a second chance to make amends for some of his mistakes in the past.
In his first season he did not win a trophy but his players were impressive. They were all willing to play for him. The following season saw Chelsea winning the league with Diego Costa winning the golden boot.
In his third season, the dressing room was divided between players loyal to Mourinho and those against him.
Trouble started when his side were 10 men after goal keeper, Thibaut Courtois, was sent against Swansea, in a game that ended 2-2.
During stoppage time, team doctor, Eva Carneiro, got to the field to treat Eden Hazard for an injury. Mourinho got furious, scolded her for wasting time on the field. Many of the players were sad about the way the manager treated her.
After that incident, in subsequent matches, Chelsea went from bad to worse having lost seven of their 12 Premier League games.
He was eventually sacked in December with Chelsea in 16th position on the league table. That was the worst season in his coaching career.
Since he joined Manchester United three seasons ago, he has been struggling to replicate the feat of Sir Alex Ferguson. Mourinho’s brand of football has not been inspiring in anyway. Paul Pogba who is tired of the defensive style of play in an interview said, “We need to attack, attack, attack especially when we are at home.”
Is it a coincidence that this is happening in his third season? Is it a curse? Time will tell if Mourinho will make it past the first half of the season as United’s boss.
