The Manchester United manager wasn’t holding back.
As is the norm with any Jose Mourinho interview, the Manchester United manager was very upfront when speaking with The Times about his time at Old Trafford.
Mark Hughes isn’t exactly on Mourinho’s Christmas card list after their touchline spat at the bet365 Stadium, and the Manchester United manager might not be getting a warm greeting from Moyes and Van Gaal after his latest comments about their respective managerial stints at the club.
After Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, many people assumed that Mourinho would be chosen for the job that he coveted so much. Instead, the club turned to Moyes and we all know how that turned out.
After failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1995, Moyes was sacked by United within 11 months of taking over.
A new philosophy was needed, step up Louis Van Gaal.
Despite returning to the Champions League and winning the FA Cup in his final game in charge, under the Dutchamn, United never looked like challenging for the Premier League title.
Having taken over last summer, Mourinho’s first season in charge was a largely frustrating one for the Stretford End faithful as United recorded a large amount of draws.
This being said, the club won the League Cup, the Europa League and returned to the Champions League.
With the former Inter Milan, Chelsea and Porto manager at the helm, there’s no denying that part of the aura surrounding Manchester United has returned.
Speaking with The Times, Mourinho was heavily critical of the infrastructure and “defeatist” culture seemed to have seeped into the club.
“There was no evolution in this club. In all the areas that make a team successful I think we stopped in time,” he said.
Mourinho adds: “When I say ‘the club’, I say the football team and what surrounds the football team was in trouble, big trouble. Not the club at all. Because the club is much more than results — it’s the fanbase. It’s the passion around the world, it’s the business, it’s the commercial, it’s the merchandising. And a club like Manchester United as a club can be one, two, three, four, five, ten years without winning. Manchester United will always be Manchester United and as a club will never be in trouble. The football team I think clearly there was an evolution in other clubs, and that was quite an empty period in this club with no evolution in areas that are important for the football team. And that was the first step to try to bring the football team in the right direction.”
While that aura of invincibility surrounding Manchester United had definitely diminished under the tenure of Moyes and Van Gaal, Mourinho will know that he also has to deliver at Old Trafford.
Failure to do so and he’ll face the exact same fate as his predecessors.
