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Jose Mourinho and Manchester United were never a match made in heaven – a club that prided itself on attacking football under Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager who has built his career on pragmatic tactics.
Towards the end of the Portuguese’s tenure at Old Trafford, the effects of managing the club appeared to take its toll. The two probably should have parted ways earlier but in the end, it took until December 18th 2018 for the Red Devils to relieve the former Chelsea manager of his duties.
At the time of Mourinho’s sacking, United were in sixth place, closer to the relegation zone than league-leaders Liverpool, whom they trailed by 19 points. The 20-time league winners were in a crisis.
The job was initially given to club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a short-term basis. While there were doubts over the Norwegian’s credentials – his previous managerial exploits being with Molde and Cardiff City – here was a man that knew the club through and through. Surely the players would respond to his reputation within the club, and the sheer fact he wasn’t Mourinho.
At first, it looked like an inspired appointment. In the first three games following the Norwegian’s arrival, United came out with a 100% record and scored 12 goals according to the Panini Tabloid, and in total Solskjaer would go on to lose just one of his opening 16 games in the hot seat. He had done enough to be given the job permanently, and was officially appointed as the boss on March 28th.
However, since then, Ole has lost control of the wheel. In the final ten games of the campaign, his side picked up just two victories. They would end the season in sixth place, finishing off with a 2-0 loss at home to already-relegated Cardiff. Suddenly it felt like United were back in the same old mess that Mourinho had left behind.
And it would now appear that, as is so often the case, United were given a bounce by the arrival of a new manager. Many of the players had something to prove after Mourinho had been let go with the whole club under-performing, none more so than Paul Pogba who had fallen out with his manager in training. He clearly seemed rejuvenated playing under Solskjaer; in the 18 games under the new man whilst he was caretaker, Pogba contributed directly to 16 goals.
But in the 10 games afterwards Pogba contributed to just two and that massive dip seemed symptomatic of the whole team. Marcus Rashford would end the season without scoring in his last eight games, Lukaku wouldn’t find the net from the 6th of March onwards and United are yet to keep a clean sheet while Solskjaer is their permanent manager. That’s all departments of the starting XI failing to perform.
Of course, there are other factors here. Solskjaer’s first three games were against teams who are now relegated, Cardiff and Huddersfield, and at home to a Bournemouth side that lost 13 of their 19 away games – the ease of those fixtures set a standard that was always going to be hard to maintain. Some have questioned too whether a mid-season trip to Dubai created more problems than solutions.
But regardless of factors, it’s now clear that turning United’s fortunes around will be nowhere near as simple as Solskjaer’s first three games suggested. Ole’s still at the wheel – but he’s facing an uphill drive.
The Premier League Panini Tabloid is a special commemorative newspaper sticker collection celebrating the exciting new partnership between the greatest league in the world and the legendary name in football publishing, Panini. As the official collectable licensee to the Premier League, Panini are delighted to bring consumers a new era of collectables and the best collecting experience. See more here: http://bit.ly/PaniniFFCEditorial