Stats Show How Jose Mourinhos Managerial Career Nosedived at Manchester United

Manchester United have parted company with Jose Mourinho after their worst start to a season in the Premier League era. United had won just one of their last six league games under the Portuguese and seem certain to miss out on Champions League qualification again.


United's dreadful form, his alleged battles with his players, and generally miserable demeanour has led many to question whether the self-named 'Special One' has lost his touch.

Manchester United v Liverpool - International Champions Cup 2018

He has won EFL Cup and Europa League honours with United and last season guided the club to a highest league finish and points tally since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. But the bottom well and truly fell out in 2018/19, with murmurings of unrest before the season had even begun.

It wasn't always like this for Mourinho and stats show how his United tenure has left a stain on his career and reputation after his previous success at Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid.

Having won the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2003 and then triumphed with the Portuguese club in the Champions League at the very first attempt, Mourinho was a revelation when he first made the move to England with Chelsea in the summer of 2004.

His team immediately romped to Premier League glory, Chelsea's first league title in 50 years, in record breaking fashion. Mourinho's side then retained the title the following season and he remains the fastest manager in Premier League history to reach 50 wins, achieved in 63 games.

Jose Mourinho Press Conference - April 7, 2006

In comparison, it took Pep Guardiola 69 games to hit the same milestone.

Having won a treble at Inter and dethroned Guardiola's Barcelona as perennial La Liga champions with Real Madrid, Mourinho picked up virtually where he left off when he returned to England in 2013, taking over for a second time at Stamford Bridge.

He soon became the quickest manager in Premier League history to reach 100 wins, doing it in 142 games, 20 games fewer than Sir Alex Ferguson. It is a record he still holds, at least for now.

The wheels fell off in the third season of his second Chelsea spell. Mourinho was sacked after his team lost nine of their opening 16 games as defending champions in 2015/16. It was written off as a fluke, an anomalous blip in an otherwise incredible career, and when United sacked Louis van Gaal just 48 hours after the Dutchman won the FA Cup, Mourinho was back in a job.

The memories that stand out from Mourinho's first season with United is the return of Paul Pogba from Juventus in a world record transfer, the goalscoring feats of veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the double trophy success in the EFL Cup and Europa League.

UEFA Europa League'Ajax v Manchester United'

In the Premier League, United finished sixth and would have failed to qualify for the Champions League had it not been for their Europa League lifeline. It was the first time that a club managed by Mourinho for a whole season had failed to win at least 24 league games. United won 18.

The 2017/18 campaign took an upturn, but given how this season has unfolded - United have won only seven times in 17 games - perhaps that was the anomaly.

Since taking over at Porto two years into his managerial career, Mourinho's win percentage in all competitions in charge of United is his worst of anywhere he's been. At Porto he won 71.7% of his games, at Chelsea (the first time) it was 67%. It was 62% at Inter, 71.9% at Real and even 58.8% at Chelsea the second time round, which includes that dismal third season.

As United boss, Mourinho won 58.3% of his 144 games in charge. It is an impressive figure by most standards, but by his own standards and the standards expected of the club, it is not.

And specifically in terms of the Premier League, these days the 55-year-old has only the fifth best win percentage in the history of the division, directly as a result of his poor United tenure. Including his time at Chelsea, he has won 62.3% of his 305 games. It wasn't previously the case, but Carlo Ancelotti (63.2%), Alex Ferguson (65.2%), Antonio Conte (67.1%) and Pep Guardiola (74.2%) all now have better records.

With Mourinho in charge over the last two-and-a-half years, United have cumulatively been just the fifth best team in the Premier League, better than only Arsenal of the 'big six'. They have taken 176 points from the 93 games played since the start of the 2016/17 season, 20 less than Liverpool. Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City have all managed 200 or more points during the same period - City are incredibly 46 points better off.

The numbers suggest 'The Special One' is no more. Where he goes from here is anyone's guess.


Source : 90min