5 reasons why Jose Mourinho failed at Manchester United

#2 Not fixing the defence immediately

Smalling in action

When Mourinho came to Chelsea in the summer of 2004, he bought Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira with him from Porto, and then signed a young goalkeeper called Petr Cech, for a combined sum of about 30 million pounds (probably close to 100 million in todays market).

With John Terry and William Gallas already at the club (and Claude Makelele, whose influence has been well documented) he had a defensive unit that would concede only 15 goals in his first season, muscling their way to the title.

Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba were also obviously influential signings in attacking positions, but it was obvious Mourinho was a build from the back kind of manager.

When he returned to Chelsea, within 6 months he had signed Nemanja Matic to patrol in front of his back four, identified the on-loan Thibaut Courtois as a viable replacement for the aging Cech, and unfrozen John Terry, who it looked like was being phased out by the club. It’s strange then, how he approached United, who had exactly the kind of dodgy defence he has relished stabilising in the past.

In his two and a bit years at the club, at various points Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Scott McTominay and even Ander Herrera have all been considered at centre half, and McTominay (a midfielder) is the only one United fans have any enthusiasm for.

At full back, United’s options are two converted wingers, Luke Shaw (who Mourinho called fat after 6 months) and Matteo Darmian, who is somehow still a United player. If Mourinho was to publish a guide to winning the title, it would probably give advice very different to how he acted at United.