5 reasons why Jose Mourinho failed at Manchester United

#1 His aversion to flair

Twice Mourinho has inherited Juan Mata and underplayed him

This has been a constant throughout his entire career. Joe Cole, Kaka, Mesut Ozil, Juan Mata are four footballers with almost otherworldly amounts of talent, who were fundamentally mistrusted and/or sold by Mourinho.

Joe Cole had a decent career at Chelsea, racking up a host of medals, but when you read things like Harry Redknapp’s autobiography, where he describes first-team players at West Ham asking for a 15-year-old Cole to be promoted immediately to the first team, or Steven Gerrard saying ‘anything Messi can do, (Cole) can do better’, there is a feeling of what might have been, had Mourinho not ground him down into a hard-working winger rather than the creative genius he could have been at number 10.

Juan Mata, who was Chelsea’s best player when Mourinho arrived, was sold in favour of Oscar, whose touch and creativity are nowhere near the Spaniards, but is taller and much harder working.

Jose’s flagpole signing at United was Paul Pogba, in theory a box to box midfielder, but in reality, one of the most flamboyant players we’ve seen in England. Pogba is the most talented outfielder at Mourinho’s disposal but was increasingly sidelined, Mourinho preferring the physicality of Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic as his reign clattered to a halt.

Similarly, talents like Mata, Anthony Martial and 50 million summer signing Fred have all got less game time than United fans would have liked. Ander Herrera, a near constant in the United midfield, probably owed his place more to his gamesmanship and nastiness than his considerably passing ability. Perhaps, when/if Mourinho moves back into management, this aversion to flair might be something he needs to evolve.