Manchester United have today confirmed they have sacked manager Jose Mourinho with immediate effect after just over two and a half years at the club. Here I summarise the day’s events so far.
Remember the date. The 18th of December 2018, Manchester United parted company with manager Jose Mourinho. The decision comes after the Red Devils lost to arch-rivals Liverpool on the weekend 3-1 with the club sitting 19 points off top spot and 11 points behind Chelsea, who occupy the fourth Champions League qualification position.
Jose Mourinho was hired back on the 27th May 2016 after former coach Louis Van Gaal had won the FA Cup but failed to qualify for the Champions League. The decision was met by much optimism as it had always seemed that one day Mourinho would take over the reins at Old Trafford.
He was one of the only coaches in the world who possessed the arrogance and self-belief to fill the shoes left by Sir Alex Ferguson. And he was guaranteed to win trophies, something which caught the eye of brand-driven Chief Executive Ed Woodward at the time, after only one major trophy win in the three years since Sir Alex had left.
But now into Mourinho’s third season, he has been sacked. Cleary the potential of the glistening trophy cabinet, or perhaps commercial deals, that Woodward believed he could claim when hiring the Portuguese-man had glazed over his eyes, blinding him from the few trying to warn him of Mourinho’s history of regressive tactics and inability to trust youth.
“What if” Manchester United had a manager who could get more out of this group of players? Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku, Luke Shaw and the perhaps the most glaring, Alexis Sanchez. There is so much talent in the current squad, why is it not being maximised? And many fans have come to the conclusion that it was Mourinho’s yesteryear tactics that were holding them back.
Why is Paul Pogba trending on Twitter too?
One of those Manchester United players who many believe has a lot of potential is Paul Pogba. However, the Frenchman found himself in hot water this morning when his Instagram and Twitter account posted and then quickly deleted an inappropriate tweet in the aftermath of Jose Mourinho being sacked.
A spokesperson since then has claimed the post was a scheduled one via his sponsors and was not in direct response to the news that had just broken about Jose Mourinho.
Following Jose Mourinho's sacking as @ManUtd manager, Paul Pogba posted a cryptic tweet - but then quickly deleted it: https://t.co/gXffOxRpS5 pic.twitter.com/9v2snnNhvQ
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 18, 2018
United legend Gary Neville was not impressed though, claiming the former Manchester United academy graduate should “do one as well!”
Red Devil Armada site experts give their reaction…
Ollie Slack
“Manchester United’s off-field situation is not perfect. They need a Director of Football, to review the current recruitment process and they need to improve their academy sides. But should they really be sitting sixth in the Premier League table, scrapping past teams at best most weeks and struggling to show any direction or pattern on the pitch, no and that stops with the manager. There is a lot more quality in this squad than the past few months have shown, it needed unlocking before they got fed up and left! “
Ali Akbar
“Can’t say I’m surprised about Mourinho’s departure. After finishing 2nd in the league last season with zero trophies, the board and the fans wanted to see a massive improvement in his third season at Old Trafford. Instead, United are sixth in the league with five losses already and it’s not even Christmas yet. Not getting the players he wanted in the summer is no excuse – this squad is good enough to be competing for the title at least!“