Jose Mourinho will come back to Old Trafford as Tottenham Hotspur gaffer on Wednesday night, and the previous Manchester United manager could be excused for asking exactly what has changed since he was sacked a year ago this month.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær‘s performance isn’t something to be proud of. After Man Utd’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa, The Red Devils are currently sitting in ninth place in Premier League with 18 points from 14 games. At a similar stage last season, Mourinho’s Utd side had 22 points and were in the seventh position after a 2-2 draw with Southampton. Even with 22 points at a similar stage, Mourinho was sacked two weeks later.
Obviously, Mourinho’s downfall had more to do with events off the pitch; a weakening relationship with the Old Trafford board over what he saw as an absence of help in the transfer market in the summer of 2018, and fall-outs with various players – most importantly Paul Pogba. When the end went ahead on December 18 a year ago, one senior figure at United portrayed it as ‘death by a thousand cuts’.
Solskjær couldn’t be an all the more differentiating character. A United man completely, and the perfect figure thought to lead the Red Devils and bring back its culture that seemed to have lost since the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson retired. the fans expected the ex-Man Utd striker would bring glory back to Utd. Solskjaer becomes tied up with the possibility that United should return a stage to push ahead once more, something that doesn’t agree with Mourinho.
“At the point when I don’t win I can’t be happy, I can’t change that in my DNA,” he said at his Spurs unveiling not long ago. ‘What’s more, I trust I can impact the players to not be cheerful without winning football matches. If you are happy by losing football matches, it is difficult to be a winner at any minute in your career. It is a basic principle” Mourinho was abused and criticised for his style of football at United. However, it’s he has won his initial three games at Tottenham, scoring 10 goals and conceding six simultaneously.
Solskjaer, too obviously, had a gigantic effect in the wake of replacing Mourinho as guardian manager last December, winning 14 of his 19 games before being placed in perpetual charge. Be that as it may, things have not gone so well for the Norwegian since. Man Utd are a mid-table team playing in the Europa League, and that feels about right now. In spite of the further interest in the squad this summer – yet concentrating on more youthful, British talent – they linger far behind Manchester City and Liverpool.
Pogba has been out throughout the previous two months yet Utd are still no closer to getting the best out of their record £89 million signing. There is an absence of midfield creativity and profundity and depth in attack following the choice to let Romelu Lukaku leave for Inter Milan in the summer.
Defensively, Solskjaer’s side still needs to improve. They have surrendered five goals in the last two league games. They are unable to hold onto the lead. They failed to see out the games against the two promoted sides in Sheffield United and Aston Villa.
Tottenham are next up on Wednesday and Mourinho will come back to his old club feeling that he is in a lot more suitable position where he feels he will get the full backing of the board, which he clearly did not get at Man Utd. The feeling at United is that Mourinho just needed to go. The change was inevitable. A year on from his departure, an important question lie – Did anything change a bit at Man Utd since Mourinho’s departure?
