Manchester United did not give me enough time, claims Jose Mourinho

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has accused Manchester United of not giving him enough time to make his mark at the club.

Mourinho spent two-and-a-half years at Manchester United, winning the UEFA Europa League and EFL Cup and finishing second in the Premier League in his second season with the club.

"I needed time at Manchester United," admits Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United in 2018

Jose Mourinho arrived at Manchester United amid much fanfare. His first season saw superstars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan join the club.

A positive first season was followed by a second-place finish in the Premier League next season. However, things unravelled during Mourinho's third season at Manchester United.

A string of poor performances resulted in Manchester United sacking the Portuguese tactician in December of 2018 and appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Jose Mourinho was announced as the Tottenham Hotspur manager in 2019. After a busy transfer window, Spurs now sit at the top of the Premier League table.

The 57-year-old has stated that he did not need much time to succeed at many clubs that he had managed:

"In a certain period of my career, with a profile of club I was getting in hands, we didn’t need as much time to reach success."

He listed the whole team 🤣Jose Mourinho isn't buying Liverpool's 'injury crisis' 👀 pic.twitter.com/haHVX2aGo3

— Goal (@goal) December 15, 2020

Mourinho, who enjoyed successful stints with clubs like Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, admitted that he did not need longevity to succeed.

"We did it at Porto, Inter, Real [Madrid], Chelsea, both times, we did it without that need of that longevity and also my desire to try different things and my crazy desire to go to many countries, and to try to win it, and try to get different experiences in many different countries, was perfect because was about winning, and good bye, and let’s try another thing."

However, he opined that he needed more time at Manchester United:

"The first club where I felt I need time and time was not given was at Manchester United, because I felt that I left at the middle of the process, but I learn very early to respect decisions, which I did at United."

José Mourinho: "Manchester United are now one of the big favourites to win the #UEL. Teams coming from the #UCL are always strong teams, teams that don't normally belong at Europa level. It is not fair that one team doesn't succeed in one competition they drop to another." pic.twitter.com/HbQI6wq6ZA

— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) December 10, 2020

Manchester United currently sit ninth in the Premier League, five points behind Spurs with a game in hand.

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