Grading Jose Mourinho’s debut season in the Manchester United dugout

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When appointed Manchester United manager last summer, many felt that Jose Mourinho would be the man to bring the fear factor back to Old Trafford. Whilst that may not quite be the case, especially given the side’s inability to kill off teams at the Theatre of Dreams, he has brought silverware back to Manchester with a treble in his debut season made up of the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League. So, overall, how did the ex-Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea boss rate in his first season in Manchester?

Successes

Let’s start with the most obvious of all – a treble of trophies. Sure, they may not have been the trophies that fans would have most desired last August, but it says a lot that the side were victorious in three out of the five competitions that they competed in and has helped to get a winning feeling back at Old Trafford, with the confidence and arrogance of success slowly returning to the corridors left devoid of any hope by David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal.

One of the main aims of the side last summer would have been to ensure a return to the Champions League, something which Mourinho has delivered. By winning the Europa League, the two time winner has secured a place in the competition for the club after three years away. With heavy investment in the squad, it is where a club steeped in such history belongs, with a number of players who have dropped out of that level of competition solely to join United.

Even with that in mind, and despite his questionable track record, the Portuguese manager has given chances to young players, particularly towards the end of the season. Whilst Marcus Rashford is a special case, the debuts of the likes of Axel Tuanzebe and Josh Harrop go to show that there will be opportunities to homegrown youngsters in Manchester.

Failures

In spite of the success in the EFL Cup and Europa League, finishing in sixth place in the Premier League is a failure for Manchester United, particularly after such spending last summer. A long unbeaten run saw the club move from sixth to sixth and the Red Devils never looked likely to threaten for more than a top four place with a lack of real quality to ever make them title contenders.

One way in which that was clear was the huge number of draws, with 15 equating to 30 points dropped over the course of the Premier League season. Of those, the home draws against the likes of Stoke and Bournemouth were particularly disappointing in games which Manchester United should be expected to win. In other instances, Mourinho showed a real lack of ambition in being happy to settle for a 0-0 in fixtures against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.

One of the reasons for that was the lack of goals in this United side. Even 15th placed Swansea scored more goals than Mourinho’s team, with only Southampton and West Brom scoring less in the top half. A reliance on Zlatan Ibrahimovic meant that goals were somewhat few and far between in his absence, with his 28 goals far outweighing the 11 scored by the next top scorers in Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford.

Even given that, earlier this season there were rumours of a fall outs between Mkhitaryan and Mourinho in one of several similar episodes. Public criticisms of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw, the isolation of Bastian Schweinsteiger and fall from grace of Wayne Rooney do not quite reflect a unified and happy dressing room at Old Trafford. This may only be short term whilst Mourinho roots out the players he doesn’t want in his squad, but it is still a cause for concern.

Verdict – 7/10

It’s hard to label a season which ends with three trophies a failure, but if there is ever an example then it would be this one. Whilst the Premier League was a lower priority towards the end of the season, the club struggled to reach much higher than sixth for much of the campaign, marring their success in cup competitions. After such a big outlay last summer and with similar expected this time around, Mourinho will have to do better.

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