Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League and their only chance of Champions League qualification is if they beat Ajax in the Europa League Final on Wednesday night,
While they look to achieve that, the question in our Monday debate is: Have Manchester United improved under Jose Mourinho’s management?
Let us know your thoughts as our two writers discuss the topic.
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MATTHEW JONES, SAYS YES
It’s easy to look at the table and use yet another disappointing Manchester United Premier League finish as a stick to beat Jose Mourinho with. Comparisons to predecessors Louis Van Gaal and David Moyes have saturated football media throughout the season.
But in just about every way, Mourinho has improved United. They may have finished sixth but are three points better off at the end of this season compared to last.
Mourinho’s United lost just five times (Van Gaal lost eight in his first season) while he has improved the Red Devils at the back – their 29 goals conceded only bettered by Spurs’ 26. Van Gaal’s United conceded 35 last term.
Hugely significant is all the clubs above United, every one improved their points haul compared to last season – especially Chelsea who finished 43 better off to claim the title.
The Portuguese established the team’s best unbeaten run at Old Trafford since 2011 while their 25-game unbeaten league run surpassed the club’s best-ever sequence in a top-flight season.
Jose Mourinho has given Premier League debuts to six academy players in his first season at Manchester United.
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) May 21, 2017
Never plays youth... #MUFC
The football has been infinitely better than the monotonous possession-based style the Dutchman was obsessed with. Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba have injected pace and purpose, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 17 league goals is the joint highest since Robin van Persie’s 26 in Fergie’s final season.
It’s also light years ahead of the drudgery under Moyes, who stripped away layers of invincibility United spent years cultivating trying to jolt them from their traditional swashbuckling swagger in place of Everton-like pragmatism. Mourinho won the EFL Cup – the first United manager to win a trophy on debut, with the Europa League final to come – which United have never won.
They remain some way off returning to the all-conquering, trophyhogging juggernaut they were. But ask any fan if they are more optimistic about next season than any of the previous four post-Ferguson and the answer will be a unanimous ‘yes’.
CHRIS BAILEY, SAYS NO
Optimists were expecting Jose Mourinho to bring a fire extinguisher to Old Trafford – instead he has doused their problems in petrol.
This is a man who has based his entire career on short-termism; the ability to sweep into a club, foster team spirit and whip up a siege mentality that keeps the spotlight on him rather than the players.
Marry that to an extremely effective, if bland style of football and little wonder Ed Woodward was cosying up to Jorge Mendes, Mourinho’s agent, before Louis van Gaal had even hoisted the FA Cup.
There was no way Jose’s magic would not restore United to their rightful place. Woodward fell foul of the problem of induction: just because Mourinho had been instantly successful elsewhere, doesn’t mean it would happen again.
He left Chelsea under a jet-black cloud midway through a season that would go down, if not for Leicester City, as the most abject title defence in Premier League history. The defeats were only the start of it.
6 – Only in 2004-05 have Manchester United had as many 0-0 draws in a @premierleague season as the six they have in 2016-17. Deadlock.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 17, 2017
Alienating his key players, moaning about transfer dealings and his treatment of doctor Eva Carneiro were all warning signs that United happily swept under their red carpet.
Now the man whose attitude has always been on the dangerous side of smouldering has infected another dressing room with his ill temper. Luke Shaw – a 21-year-old coping with a horrendous injury – has been a public target, as have Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial.
Even Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, whose form and fitness are patchy at best, do not deserve to be questioned in full view.
Do not let one EFL Cup or a Europa League final fool you. That he has added ‘world class’ players in Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly only to finish sixth is poor enough without all the drama.
Even Pep Guardiola at Manchester City would be a dead man walking with such a record. Mourinho burns down bridges everywhere he goes, only this time he is unlikely to pave them with gold before he leaves.
