Jose Mourinho’s era at Manchester United has come to an end.
The Board made the decision following Sunday’s 1-3 loss at Liverpool. As such, The Red Devils are now manager-less midway into the season for the first time since David Moyes was sacked during the final weeks of the 2013/14 campaign.
Mourinho leaves Manchester United with a W83, D32, L28 record across all competitions since his arrival before the 2016/17 season. In his two-and-a-half years with the club, Mourinho won the UEFA Europa League and the Carabao Cup in his first season with the club. However, he couldn’t repeat that level of success in his second year. This current season was already a disastrous one, and United are out of the title race already. The Directors needed to do something, and decided to part ways with the Portuguese. Not shocking considering United sit 19 points (!!) behind league-leaders Liverpool. They are also 11 points adrift the Top 4.
The news was announced on a club statement in Manchester United’s official website.
“Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager”, a brief club statement said.
Where do we go from here?
The phrase of a caretaker manager seems to be the key here. Names such as Zinedine Zidane, Arsene Wenger and Julen Lopetegui are all available. However, aside from the former Champions League winner with Los Blancos, neither seems to be an exciting alternative. In that regard, and with few quality managers available, having an interim manager does not sound bad. Could Michael Carrick be an alternative?
It’s all in the air right now, and no one what’s going to happen next at Old Trafford. But with a crowded schedule between December and January, the most likely scenario is one where United announces a caretaker manager in a matter of hours. They can’t wait any longer to make such a decision.
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