5 Manchester United players who have stalled under Jose Mourinho

Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably football’s greatest ever manager, stunned the world in 2013 when he announced that he would be retiring at the culmination of the season.

Since Fergie’s retirement, the Red Devils have had their task cut out trying to replace him. David Moyes was hand-picked by the retiring Ferguson, but he couldn’t even last the course of the season.

Louis Van Gaal was the next in the hot seat and unfortunately for the Dutchman, his tenure came to be known more for his questionable decision-making than any sublime performances on the pitch.

Thus, in 2016, the appointment of the ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho, was met with much fanfare. The match seemed like one made in heaven. However, a couple of years on, the marriage has been anything but amicable.

In the current season as well, Manchester United find themselves languishing in 8th place and on a winless streak of four games in the league.

Over the course of his tenure, Mourinho's team selections, his handling of the media and above all his treatment of his players have been questioned. The last facet has also led to several players not scaling the heights expected of them.

In this article, we look at 5 such players whose development has stalled under the Special One:

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Martial has not fulfilled his vast potential under Jose

#5. Anthony Martial

The Frenchman was signed by Louis Van Gaal in 2015. On his debut, Martial scored a sensational solo goal against arch-rivals Liverpool. And in his first full start, he scored twice, thus making the enormous fee seem worthwhile.

A recipient of the Golden Boy award in 2015, Martial took the English game by storm. The unique combination of dazzling dribbling and clinical finishing saw him earmarked as one for great success in the future.

After a stellar 2015-16 campaign under Van Gaal, Martial was tipped to achieve legendary status at Old Trafford.

However, under Mourinho, the Frenchman’s career has stalled. Despite starting Mourinho’s initial games in charge, Martial has found himself frozen on the bench more often than he would like.

Even though the Frenchman has hit a purple patch recently, he looks a far cry from the player that set the league alight in 2015-16. Martial may still be one of United’s best players currently, but his talent surely warrants him being one of the best in the league.

As a teenager, Martial caught everyone’s imagination. However, at 23 years of age, he doesn't seem to have progressed a lot.

The Frenchman’s best years are still ahead of him, but you get the feeling that his best might just be somewhere away from Mourinho.

Shaw still looks a work in progress

#4. Luke Shaw

The Englishman was signed from Southampton. With a burgeoning reputation behind him, Shaw was brought in to fill the void created by Patrice Evra. However, years after his arrival in Manchester, he still looks like a work in progress.

Shaw’s development has been majorly hampered by injuries. A fractured leg in September 2015 saw him miss the majority of that season, and other niggling injuries saw him miss more than 10 games at a stretch twice.

Although injuries are partly to be blamed for his stagnation, Mourinho’s lack of trust has probably played an even bigger role.

Despite being relatively injury-free during the 2017-18 season, Shaw played only a handful of games - with the majority of his appearances coming in Cup competitions.

Though it seems that Shaw has managed to finally win over Mourinho, the latter has contributed negatively to the former’s career.

When the Englishman was at Southampton, he looked like a prospect ready to slot straight into the United team and also the national team. However, into his fifth season, Shaw seems to be on the same level as when he left the South coast.

Sanchez has been a shadow of the player that once lit up the Premier League

#3. Alexis Sanchez

The Chilean arrived at the Theatre of Dreams in a swap deal which saw Mkhitaryan move to Arsenal. In his first interview for the club, Sanchez described the feeling of putting on the United shirt as a dream. Yet, his time at Old Traffod has been nothing short of a nightmare.

Sanchez arrived at United at the top of his game. He had scored seven times and assisted three goals in 17 starts for the Gunners that season. The Chilean made an encouraging start to his United career too, but quickly fell away.

For United, Sanchez has mustered a grand total of three goals in nearly a year. To compound his misery, he was recently ruled out for a ‘long’ time due to a hamstring concern.

While it is debatable whether Sanchez was a player in decline at the age of 29, his numbers for Arsenal last season indicated that he was still a top-drawer player then.

The Chilean has experienced an alarming dip in form since his move to the red half of Manchester, and a part of the blame could be attributed to Mourinho.

Rashford's game time has reduced under Jose

#2. Marcus Rashford

The English striker burst on to the scene with a superb brace against Arsenal on his league debut. A striker with pace to burn, Rashford made numerous vital contributions after his debut under Van Gaal. However, a change in manager led to his game time reducing considerably.

With many wanting Rashford to occupy the centre forward spot vacated by Robin van Persie, Mourinho went out and brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the club. Suddenly, Rashford was again the back-up striker, even after displaying touches of brilliance in the preceding season.

The Englishman has always been out of favour with Mourinho. He has never started more than 17 league games in a season under the latter, with most of his appearances being cameos off the bench.

Mourinho has never been one to promote young talent, and that particular trait became worryingly true for Rashford with every passing week. However, recently, he has started showing a little more faith in Rashford. Whether that is due to the latter’s perseverance, Mourinho's sudden change in perception or Lukaku’s wretched form, we will never know.

After his debut as a teenager, it seemed that Rashford had the world at his feet. However, three years on, he is still looking to nail down a permanent starting spot.

A player as talented as Rashford shouldn’t have spent the amount of time he did on the bench, and Mourinho needs to take a share of the blame for that.

Pogba and Mourinho have indulged in their fair share of controversies

#1. Paul Pogba

Despite moving in a descending order, most of you would probably have guessed who would feature at the top of the list.

Pogba was one of Mourinho’s first signings after the latter’s arrival in 2016. Signed for a then record fee, Pogba was expected to power United to the title under the Special One.

However, unfortunately for the Old Trafford faithful, the pair have spent more time fighting with each other than trying to outsmart the opposition as a collective.

When Pogba left for Juventus as a teenager, he was looked upon as an immense talent, yet one who was prone to being highly inconsistent. In Turin, the Frenchman seemed to iron out those flaws as he formed a terrifying trio with Vidal and Pirlo.

Thus, upon his return to his boyhood club, many believed the stage to be set for him to weave his magic. However, those magical displays have been few and far in between. Where Conte thrived, Mourinho has seemingly failed.

While his club career has been in shambles, the Frenchman has excelled for his country. At the World Cup this summer, he was a leader: defensively diligent and offensively full of flair. In short, he was everything with France that he hasn’t been for United.

These are not coincidences, and lead us to question the impact or lack of it that Mourinho has had on Pogba. Never shy of throwing the Frenchman under the bus for the latter’s flamboyance, Mourinho might just have fractured their relationship beyond repair.

While flashes of Pogba’s brilliance still rear their beautiful head once in a while, he definitely isn’t living up to his potential. The Frenchman’s talent warrants him being a world beater, a player capable of deciding matches week in, week out. Yet, somehow, Mourinho has contrived to make him stall or even regress at United.