José Mourinho's 4 most humiliating defeats as a Manchester United manager

Jose Mourinho took the managerial job at Manchester United in 2016 and has since managed 123 games, winning 73, with a win percentage of 61%. The 3-0 defeat against Tottenham on Monday night was his 23rd loss as a United manager and surely one of his worst home defeats yet.

Despite the humbling scoreline, the Red Devils had started the game quite strong and were the better side over the first half, where Lukaku missed with an open goal at his mercy.

Tottenham took advantage of United's poor defending and after the break, scored 2 quickfire goals via Kane and Moura. Moura added a third in the dying minutes to pile on the misery at Old Trafford.

The game ended 3-0, with Mourinho losing in cool in the post-match news conference and demanding respect from the journalists:

"Do you know what was the result? 3-0. 3-0. Do you know what this means? [Holding up three fingers] 3-0, but also it means three Premierships, and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them. Three for me and two for them. Respect, respect, respect man!"

It was clear that the result had got to his head and why not. Manchester United's home defeat at the hands of Tottenham on Monday night was Mourinho's worst home defeat in his entire managerial career.

His time at United has been mixed, to say the least so far, as he has overseen inconsistent wins and unexpected defeats in tandem. As such, we round up the Portuguese manager's 4 most humiliating defeats while in charge of the Red Devils:

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#4 Watford 3-1 Manchester United (2016/17 Season)

Watford spoiled Manchester United's good start to the 2016 season

Manchester United visited Vicarage Road on 18th September 2016 after a disappointing away defeat in midweek at the hands of Feyenoord in the Europa League group stages. United had also lost at home to local rivals Manchester City prior to the midweek game and as such, a loss here would have been unfathomable.

United were fully expected to bounce back to winning ways against the Hornets. Mourinho started with Zlatan, Rooney, Rashford and Martial together in an ultra-attacking formation. Pogba and Fellaini were the midfielders on duty and at the back, Mourinho opted for Shaw, Smalling, Bailly and Valencia. De Gea, as always, was in goal.

Yet, United were not organized and the midfield was totally ineffective in the first half. Watford, on the other hand, played energetic pressing football and took the lead in the 34th minute through Capoue.

United improved their performance in the second half as Watford looked a little out of energy and Rashford scored an easy goal to get the scores level. But it never looked like United would go on and win the game, especially since Pogba, deployed in a deeper role, could not exert his influence on the game.

Watford deservedly went ahead when Zuniga scored in the 83rd minute and Deeney’s 95th-minute penalty, courtesy a Fellaini foul, handed Mourinho his 3rd defeat in 3 games.

United finished the game with 61% possession, 417 passes completed and 15 shots, none of which was on target. At the end of the game, Mourinho blamed luck, referees and mistakes from his players, especially Luke Shaw. It was the first time that Mourinho had lost 3 consecutive games in a season in more than 14 years and was a day of humiliation and embarassment for him and United in general.

#3 Manchester United 2-3 Brighton & Hove Albion (2018/19 Season)

Brighton knocked the wind out of Manchester United

Manchester United started the 2018/19 Premier League season with a hard fought win against Leicester City at Old Trafford. They then travelled to the Amex Stadium to face a Brighton side who had beaten them in the same fixture last season.

Mourinho opted for Martial and Mata alongside Lukaku in attack, due to the sudden injury of Sanchez a day before the game. Pogba, Fred and Pereira continued in midfield, whereas Shaw, Lindelof, Bailly and Young started in defence, with De Gea in goal.

Even though United started as favourites, Brighton’s attacking play caught the Red Devils by surprise. Glenn Murray shocked everyone by scoring the first goal for Brighton in the 25th minute, turning the ball into the net in a cheeky finish that De Gea could do nothing about.

Within two minutes, Duffy scored and put Brighton 2-0 up. United rallied with all their might and pulled a goal back when Lukaku headed Shaw’s cross into the goal in the 34th minute, but the home side was 3-1 up just a minute before the break when Gross converted a penalty after he was fouled by Bailly.

United did not show any desire or intent in the first half, looking clueless at times. Pogba converted a penalty in the second half injury time, but it was too little too late. United crashed to a humiliating defeat that prompted Pogba to question his and his team’s attitude.

The defence was especially woeful and Mourinho, who had been asking for reinforcement at back through the summer, saw his concerns laid out open to the world. United were not too spectacular in attack either. They had 67% possession in the game, attempted 572 passes with 84% accuracy, and had 9 shots, out of which only 3 were on target. It was an embarrassing day for Mourinho, but unfortunately, more misery would follow in a week.

#2 Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspurs (2018/19 Season)

Mourinho and his team slumped to an all-time low on Monday night

A week on from the Brighton game, United needed a response as Spurs visited Old Trafford on 28th August 2018. Mourinho rang in 6 changes to his team. Luke Shaw became the only defender to start all the games for United this season, as Valencia, Jones and Smalling replaced Young, Bailly and Lindelof.

Matic, Herrera and Lingard were the other new faces in the team. Strangely, Mourinho opted for a back 3 with Herrera as the right centre back. United were the better team in the first half, and it did look like they would recover from the horrible performance against Brighton, but it was not to be.

Lukaku and Lingard were guilty of missing easy chances and the midfield and defence were split open by Spurs, who scored 2 goals in 2 minutes in the second half through Kane and Moura and then added a third 6 minutes from time to inflict further misery on to Mourinho.

It was the Portuguese manager’s biggest home defeat of his career and United are now in their worst start to the season since 1992/93. It was also the first time in his career that Mourinho had lost 2 of the opening three games of the season.

Mourinho seemed to defend his player after the game, saying he was pleased with their performance. The alarm bells were already ringing last weekend, but those became a lot louder on Monday night. It prompted a vicious response from the manager in the press conference later on. It was, after all, a night of shame for him and his team.

#1 Manchester United 0-4 Chelsea (2016/17 Season)

Conte, with his celebrations, managed to worsen Mourinho's bad day at the office

The first time Mourinho returned to Chelsea as a United manager, was also his most humiliating time as the Red Devils boss. United were riding high after a midweek home win over Fenerbahce in the Europa League and on 23rd October 2016, Jose Mourinho took his Manchester United side to the Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese started with De Gea in goal and Blind, Smalling, Bailly, Valencia in defence. Herrera started as the deep-lying midfielder, with Fellaini alongside him. Pogba started in an advanced role, along with Lingard and Rashford. Ibrahimovic led the line for United. Wayne Rooney missed the trip through injury.

Yet, it was the most unceremonious of starts for the Red Devils. Within the first 30 seconds, Pedro had put Chelsea ahead, without the United defence even touching the ball. Smalling’s hesitation allowed Pedro to round De Gea and send Stamford Bridge and Conte in a frenzy. Cahill doubled the score in the 21st minute, after some disgraceful set-piece defending from United. The first half ended 2-0, with United and Mourinho looking clueless.

The second half did not see any improvements from United and Hazard capitalized on more defensive errors to put Chelsea 3-0 up in the 62nd minute. Kante set the Stamford Bridge roof off when he scored Chelsea’s fourth goal in the 70th minute. United already looked defeated and somehow managed to complete the game without conceding further.

While the defence was blamed, United were also blunt in attack – they had 16 shots and none of them was on target. It was a poor day for Mourinho as he watched Conte and the home fans “celebrate like crazy kids” again and again and again.

It was Mourinho’s biggest defeat as a United manager and against his old side, at their ground, in front of their supporters, it was his most humiliating defeat as well.