Premier League 2018/19: 5 managers who could be gone by Christmas

#3 Jose Mourinho

Manchester United could still lose faith in Jose Mourinho if results go sour again

A few weeks ago – following bad results against Wolves, West Ham and Valencia and a high-profile fall-out with star midfielder Paul Pogba – it looked like Jose Mourinho’s head was on the block at Manchester United and it felt like only a matter of time before he was removed from power at Old Trafford.

Since then though, United have experienced somewhat of a mini-revival under the Portuguese boss, winning 3 of 4 Premier League games and pulling off a solid draw against Chelsea. Unfortunately, though, the fact is that the Red Devils were expected to be title contenders this season and despite sitting 4 points away from the top 4, they’re already 9 adrift of league leaders Manchester City.

Their recent wins haven’t been massively impressive either – a miraculous comeback against Newcastle and a pair of workmanlike performances against Everton and Bournemouth haven’t fully turned things around at Old Trafford, and their October Champions League loss to Juventus was dismal.

United also have some tricky fixtures coming up, like the return game against Juventus, a match with hated rivals City, and showdowns with Arsenal and Liverpool in early December. Mourinho is in a stronger position than he was a month ago, but if he can’t prove that United are genuine title contenders, the Old Trafford powerbrokers could still lose patience with him before 2018 is out.