3 ways Jose Mourinho can still turn Manchester United's fortune this season

Since Sir Alex Fergusson retired after winning the 13th League title, his immediate successors David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal failed to live up to the expectations of the Old Trafford faithful. David Moyes left within few months of taking the managerial position while Van Gaal had a harsh couple of seasons despite winning the FA Cup in his second season.

When Chelsea sacked Mourinho in the third season of his second tenure with the Blues, there were rumours that the Portuguese had already decided his next destination. Finally the inevitable happened on 27th May 2016 when Jose signed a three-year contract with Manchester United with an option to extend it further one year.

The manager signed four players in his first season with the likes of big name players - Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba. Zlatan was one of the best signings of the season, but Pogba didn't justify his price tag.

Things started deteriorating in the latter half of Mourinho's second season. The Portuguese not only failed to win any silverware but reports emerged of a rift with some of the players. The negativity that crept in last season has continued in the current campaign as well with United suffering one of their worst starts to a season.

They are the currently eighth in the league and already out of the League Cup against a lower division side. Jose has been searching for answers and yet to find his best eleven.

Though the league title is far off at the moment but Mourinho could still save the season with few changes on his behalf.

---

#3 Buying a right winger in January

Sanchez is struggling at Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho's issues with a quality right winger persist since the last season. When Alexis Sanchez decided to leave Arsenal, United fought out with City to get the services of the Chilean.

But Sanchez is yet to show the form he did at Arsenal. Being a left winger, he has failed to adjust in the right wing position which has led Mourinho to either try Mata or Martial in that role but neither prefers to play in that there.

Rashford has been used quite often as a right winger, but that means United will have one option less in the striking role which puts further pressure on Lukaku who is out of form.

#2 Finding the best centre-back partnership

Jose doesn't know his best centre-back pairing yet.

The reason why Manchester City and Liverpool have been dominating this season is that along with their stellar attack; they have a rock solid backline. Jose Mourinho wanted a centre-back in the summer transfer market, but the Manchester United board reportedly declined his wish.

Jose has already bought the likes of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof since he took charge of United. Though Eric impressed at first, his inconsistency has broken the manager's trust. For Lindelof, however, the physical nature of the Premier League has been tough, and he is finding it difficult to get going. The Red Devils do have Smalling, Jones, and Rojo as other options but none or no pair has impressed the manager.

Manchester United have conceded a lot more goals than they did at this stage last season and without a dependable centre-back pairing, things could become only worse.

#1 Dropping Lukaku

Lukaku has been struggling to score goals.

Every club needs a centre-forward who can win games single-handedly. After suffering a career-threatening injury, Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Manchester United in the midway of the second season which made Romelu Lukaku the sole striker in the team. Though Rashford can play as a forward, Mourinho prefers to use him as a winger.

The Belgian international had a good debut season for the Red Devils and an even better World Cup following that. But in the current campaign, he is nowhere close to his best. For Belgium, he is still managing to bang in goals, but for Manchester United, his lack of confidence is visible which has made him squander easy opportunities to score which could have altered many games otherwise.

Romelu has been playing continuously without much rest due to the lack of options on the bench which might be hindering his chances of getting back to form. The fans have been calling for the manager to drop the centre-forward for a couple of games which might make him more desperate and perform better to regain his place back.