Manchester United have reportedly appointed Jose Mourinho as manager, words that many never thought would come to fruition. Speculation has been persisting throughout the entirety of the campaign this year, as the Red Devils have missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the second time in three years. And despite winning the FA Cup over Crystal Palace, it wasn’t enough for Louis van Gaal to see out the final season of his three-year contract given to him after the sacking of David Moyes.
BREAKING: Jose Mourinho is appointed as the new Manchester United manager #SSNHQ https://t.co/V1BdzRmgvB
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) May 26, 2016
Report: Manchester United Appoint Jose Mourinho as Manager
Despite this being an appointment that will surely divide the supporters of the club on whether he is the right choice, there is little argument that ending the reign of van Gaal is a bad decision. In his two years at the helm of Manchester United, van Gaal has spent over $363 million in transfers, including the one that turned sour quickly in the Argentinian midfielder that need not be named.
Mourinho was last employed by Premier League rival Chelsea FC, a place where he is loved by the fans and was deemed “The Chosen One”. Despite the love the fans had for the Portuguese manager, it wasn’t enough to see him keep his job this year after a historically bad start to the season, a year after winning the title. The fact that he is a cult legend of sorts in the Chelsea fan base has placed a significant stigma upon him that many Manchester United supporters will take some convincing, in the form of silverware, to forget.
The other common worry from the United supporters is the track record that Mourinho had with youth while managing in London, or lack thereof. Mourinho, more often than not, chose to ship the young talent of the club out on loan rather then to give them a chance in the first team. In a club that has long prided itself off the successes of the youth academy, this is something that may frighten some of the supporters of the club, and rightly so. One of the things Mourinho will have to change to his managerial style is giving the youth of the club a chance to prove themselves, something that van Gaal did on a frequent basis, mainly due to first team injuries.
The last worry that the supporters have voiced on a frequent basis is the apparent lack of chemistry that Mourinho is able to maintain over a long period at a club. His track record in this hasn’t been a good one, but this may be more due to the atmosphere at the clubs he has managed, rather than the ability of the manager to keep things running smoothly.
However, despite all of the possibly paranoia-created problems that the supporters can come up with as to why Mourinho isn’t the man, his track record is nothing short of undeniable. In 765 career matches at the helm of Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Porto, and a few other clubs, he has racked up a very impressive record of 505-154-106 across all competitions, good for an astoundingly impressive 66% winning percentage. And, his winning percentage is just the tip of the iceberg of what Mourinho has accomplished in his tenures with some of the biggest clubs in the world, where he’s won almost every trophy a manager could dream of.
ON THIS DAY: In 2010, Jose Mourinho's Inter beat Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the Champions League. pic.twitter.com/5M36ixS6Bc
— Squawka (@Squawka) May 22, 2016
For all of the supporters out there that are ignorant to his accomplishments, here are just a few of them: With Porto he won the league twice, the domestic cup once, the Super Cup, the Europa League, and the Champions League, and that was just the beginning. In his two tenures with Chelsea, which will bode well for his chance of success in the Premier League, he was able to win the league four times, the FA Cup once, and the League Cup three times in roughly six seasons in London, and this all goes without mentioning his successes at Real Madrid. The amount of success he has had in the Premier League should calm all the worries of the United supporters out there, all who are hungry for more silverware. It will remain to be seen if Mourinho is the right decision, and only time will tell if the worries of the supporters are true, or just paranoia of a club caught in limbo.
