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Jose Mourinho has been one of the most successful managers in the world. He has triumphed in Portugal, Spain, Italy and England, winning the League in all of the four countries. He broke into the football scene as a dynamic young manager who was special and he destroyed a lot of old notions and records to establish himself as one of the most famous names in football management. However, for all his accolades, there is a dark side to his managerial career that refuses to leave his side – the infamous third season syndrome.
The third season syndrome first occurred at Chelsea during his first association with the club, and he actually left at the start of the fourth season. At Inter, there were no such troubles as he left to join Real Madrid after two years in Italy. At the Bernabeu, the third season syndrome caught up with him again, as he left after the third season which saw the club win the Supercopa de Espana.
During his second stint with Chelsea, it caught up with him months into the third season and cost him his job. The recent signs at Manchester United have not been too bright either, and incidentally, Mourinho is in his third season at United!
Mourinho’s disappointing ends have haunted the Portuguese throughout his career and today, we discuss the 4 signs at Old Trafford that indicate that Mourinho’s third season syndrome is taking shape at Manchester United right now.
#4 Differences with Club hierarchy
Last season, Mourinho wanted Ivan Perisic, but negotiations broke down. Over the summer this season, the Portuguese confirmed that he had provided the club management with a list of 5 names a few months ago. He had already acquired Dalot, Fred and Grant and ideally wanted two more signings.
He then acknowledged that he might get only one. As it turned out, no one else joined United. The right side remained vacant, the move to bring Toby Alderweireld was not sanctioned by the club and all these made things a bit tasty between Mourinho and the upper management.
He regularly hinted that he does not have the quality he desires in his squad, in an open attempt to rile Woodward, and this is generally the first symptom of his third season syndrome.
During his first tenure with Chelsea, he was apparently unhappy with the lack of funds to sign players and this led to differences with Roman Abramovich. The appointment of Avram Grant as the director of football further spiced things up.
The inside story of his sacking shows that his differences with the Russian owner cost him dearly. Before his end at Real Madrid, Club President Perez had to intervene with a press conference to assure that the Portuguese had not been sacked. At Chelsea part II, there was the infamous incident with Eva Carneiro that brought the club a lot of negative publicity and ultimately led to the Portuguese's downfall.
There has not been anything remotely drastic at United yet, but the storm could be building, with his recent “Respect, Respect” press conference showing that Mourinho is currently on a short fuse. Manchester United could risk hurting their worldwide image the way things are going, because clearly, Mourinho is experiencing events that could lead to the culmination of his job.
#3 Public criticism of players
Last season, Mourinho was very public in his criticism of Luke Shaw, as the player returned from injury. He did not mince his words while talking about Mkhitaryan either and while that seemed to work temporarily, it was all but a false positive.
He also saw his differences with Paul Pogba increase last season, when he questioned the Frenchman’s desire and benched him in important games, including a crucial Champions League tie. Over the summer, Martial publicly bore the brunt of his manager's ire, for the simple reason that the Frenchman wanted to be by his family’s side during the birth of his child.
He then went ahead and said that fans should not come to see his team play. After the stale home draw against Valencia on Tuesday, he degraded his players again, saying that they lacked technical quality to build from the back and create 20 chances in a game. This is again, history repeating itself with Mourinho on his final season at a club.
At Real Madrid, he publicly demeaned Pepe, saying that Raphael Varane was the reason why the Portuguese defender was losing his way. Pepe had previously said in an interview that he regretted Mourinho’s handling of Casillas. During his second stint at Chelsea, Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn felt the full extent of his wrath. The public humiliation of his players came as early as August in his third season, after a loss at the hands of Crystal Palace at home.
Mourinho's inclination of criticizing his players in public is so frequent in his recent managerial history, that it has to be considered a habit. It is demoralizing and humiliating and it impacts the players psychologically. The Legendary Sir Alex Ferguson rarely berated his players publicly, and even when he did, it was generic. The Board at Manchester United must decide how much more of this they can entertain at the moment.
#2 Team failing to perform
Manchester United have won just 4 of their 10 games so far this season and have already been defeated four times, including 3 times in the Premier League. They were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup, on penalties, by Championship side Derby County in the third round.
In the Premier League, Manchester United have scored just 10 goals in their 7 games, and conceded 12, the same as Bournemouth and West Ham United and are currently 10th in the league table. At Old Trafford, United have won just one of their 5 games this season. The performance of the players have been poor, and they look uninspired. The team selection has been questionable and there are no signs of improvements at all. When put into perspective, this is the third sign of Mourinho’s third season syndrome.
In his third season at Real Madrid, Mourinho lost a Cup final to Atletico Madrid, exited the Champions League in the semifinals and finished runners-up behind Barcelona in La Liga with a 13 point deficit. In his second stint at Chelsea, things got tough in the third season too, as the Blues managed just 4 wins in 16 league games and were living dangerously just 1 point above relegation when he finally got the boot.
It remains to be seen if the Portuguese can turn it around at United, or if the United Board are patient enough to let it run that long, but the performance of the team confirms that with Mourinho, history has a tendency of repeating itself.
#1 Falling out with his best players
The biggest sign that Jose Mourinho is experiencing his much-hyped third season syndrome at Manchester United is his internal wars with his best players. It started with Mkhitaryan, who never was utilized at his proper position and was ultimately sold last season.
Luke Shaw faced a lot of storm from his manager, but credit to the youngster, he has kept his mouth shut and let his football do the talking. Mourinho is not on talking terms with his current captain, Antonio Valencia, as per reports by Metro. Martial and the Portuguese famously fell out over the summer and there are reports that Rashford is stalling his contract extension because he is worried about his development under Mourinho.
But the biggest of the lot is his problem with Paul Pogba. The differences were there even before the now infamous training ground video. Pogba and Mourinho have been at daggers drawn for quite some time now and it is affecting the Frenchman’s playing abilities at Manchester United. This is the most important indication that Mourinho is nearing his end at United, as history would suggest.
At Real Madrid, it was Casillas, Sergio Ramos and even Cristiano Ronaldo who drifted apart from the Portuguese. The list also included Kaka and Pepe. Even though Perez assured in his press conference that “no one was getting fired”, it was his differences which his star players that resulted in Mourinho’s downfall.
During his second stint at Chelsea, his relationship with Fabregas, Costa and Hazard soured days into the new season and even the backroom staff found themselves distanced from his ideologies. Abramovich had a decision to take and the Russian chose to save his team further humiliation and insults from a manager who had a history of bad behavior.
At Old Trafford too, the alarm bells are ringing. The United Board are certainly deciding on an impending decision and for Mourinho, the time is almost up. This third season syndrome has caught up with him again and it will most certainly cost him his job at Manchester United.
