SIPA USA / PA Images
SIPA USA / PA Images / PA Images
JOSE MOURINHO HAS been sacked following Manchester United’s worst start to a season since 1990.
“Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect,” United said in a short statement on Tuesday morning.
“The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future.
“A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager.”
Advertisement
Michael Carrick is expected to take charge of training until a caretaker is in place, but it is not yet known if he will be in the dugout for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Cardiff City.
Mourinho’s dismissal comes in the wake of a toothless 3-1 defeat against Liverpool last weekend, a result which left them a massive 19 points off the top of the table and, more worryingly, 11 points adrift of the top four and the Champions League places.
It was a dismal end to an Old Trafford reign which began with much promise, and three trophies, following the Portuguese manager’s appointment in May 2016.
United won the Community Shield, the EFL Cup and the Europa League in Mourinho’s first season at the helm — that European success enough to deliver Champions League qualification despite only finishing sixth in the league.
A Premier League title race with Manchester City never quite materialised in 2017/18 and although United finished in second place, they were a distant 19 points behind their near neighbours.
Early defeats to Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur put United and Mourinho under immediate pressure this season, which intensified following a string of uninspiring displays and a 3-1 defeat against Man City which left them languishing in eighth place.
United’s progress to the Champions League last 16 — where they will meet Paris Saint-Germain in February — provided some respite, but Sunday’s defeat at Anfield put the prospect of a top-four finish in even more jeopardy, with Mourinho conceding that was now the best that United could hope to achieve.
“What do you mean by fix?” he asked. “You mean win the title? I can’t fix this.
“We can still finish fourth. I think it is not easy. For sure we are going to finish in the top six like all of the other historically top teams, but the best we can get is the fourth position.
“Now we have to look to the fifth position and then probably later the fourth.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
152 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Jose Mourinho sacked as Manchester United manager
JOSE MOURINHO HAS been sacked following Manchester United’s worst start to a season since 1990.
“Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect,” United said in a short statement on Tuesday morning.
“The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future.
“A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager.”
Michael Carrick is expected to take charge of training until a caretaker is in place, but it is not yet known if he will be in the dugout for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Cardiff City.
Mourinho’s dismissal comes in the wake of a toothless 3-1 defeat against Liverpool last weekend, a result which left them a massive 19 points off the top of the table and, more worryingly, 11 points adrift of the top four and the Champions League places.
It was a dismal end to an Old Trafford reign which began with much promise, and three trophies, following the Portuguese manager’s appointment in May 2016.
United won the Community Shield, the EFL Cup and the Europa League in Mourinho’s first season at the helm — that European success enough to deliver Champions League qualification despite only finishing sixth in the league.
A Premier League title race with Manchester City never quite materialised in 2017/18 and although United finished in second place, they were a distant 19 points behind their near neighbours.
Early defeats to Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur put United and Mourinho under immediate pressure this season, which intensified following a string of uninspiring displays and a 3-1 defeat against Man City which left them languishing in eighth place.
United’s progress to the Champions League last 16 — where they will meet Paris Saint-Germain in February — provided some respite, but Sunday’s defeat at Anfield put the prospect of a top-four finish in even more jeopardy, with Mourinho conceding that was now the best that United could hope to achieve.
“What do you mean by fix?” he asked. “You mean win the title? I can’t fix this.
“We can still finish fourth. I think it is not easy. For sure we are going to finish in the top six like all of the other historically top teams, but the best we can get is the fourth position.
“Now we have to look to the fifth position and then probably later the fourth.”
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Go Way Jose Jose Jose Mourinho MUFC Manchester United