Jose Mourinho Is a Great Fit for Manchester United, but He Must Get a Good Start

Manchester United fans may have had some collective doubts about the club hiring Jose Mourinho as manager, but when their away contingent travelled to Wigan for the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, the Portuguese could be left in no doubt as to their support.

His name rang down from the stands to the familiar operatic tune of “La Donna e Mobile,” and there was an enthusiastic and rhythmic burst of “Mourinho’s red and white army.”

There was even a bit of classic Mancunian sarcasm. When there was no reaction from the touchline to the crowd imploring “Jose, give us a wave,” they switched to singing “Sit down Mourinho,” a chant they had used when he came to Old Trafford in charge of Chelsea. That got a wave, to huge cheers.

As they were with David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, the United faithful will be on board, full-throated in their support for as long as they can be. For the Scot, there were—albeit diminishing—pockets of support in the crowd to the very end of his time there, even when any true belief in him had evaporated.

Van Gaal got loud cheers and applause whenever United did well right up to the end of his time in charge, again, even when a large majority of supporters wanted him gone.

Mourinho does not have to worry about losing the vocal support of those attending United matches if he gets off to a slow start.

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However, he would benefit tremendously from a good start because of the combination of three factors. Those are the size of the challenge he is facing, the power of the feel-good factor and the fact he has only once gone beyond three years at any of the clubs he has managed. 

The first or second of his seasons in charge represent his best shot at United success, unless he is going to change the habit of a lifetime and stay at Old Trafford for the long haul.

The first season may represent his best shot at this, given the aforementioned size of the challenge. That challenge comes in two forms, internal and external. Internally, the task is about rebuilding United, restoring a faltering squad, adding quality and purpose to a side that has been cut adrift since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

A run of seventh, fourth, and fifth place in the Premier League is unlike any since the sixth-place finish Ferguson managed in 1990/91. His final squad was destroyed by Moyes, left devoid of confidence and completely lacking in faith in its leadership. Van Gaal’s rebuilding job may turn out to have laid some decent groundwork, but it was essentially a failure on the pitch.

Their approach to the transfer …

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