Inside Jose Mourinho’s mad Manchester United reign 

Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho reacts as he leaves at full time in the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Everton at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 28, 2018. – Manchester Utd won the game 2-1.

He fell out with everybody, was doused in milk and vilified for a whole season – yet, Jose Mourinho reportedly wants to do it all again at Manchester United.

The three-time Premier League winner has been linked with an audacious return to Old Trafford, after Erik ten Hag watched his sorry Red Devils lose 4-0 away to Crystal Palace. Ten Hag, 54, is hanging on to his job at Old Trafford, and new United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is believed to be considering other options.

One of those not on their list is ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Mourinho, who has been linked with a return to the red side of Manchester six years after he was unceremoniously booted out by the club. Mourinho is currently a free agent and is believed to be keen at a second chance with United, having been dismissed by AS Roma at the start of the year.

Following the news he would relish a return to United, Mirror Sport looks back on some of the maddest moments of his tumultuous reign at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola go head to head in the Manchester derby on Sunday locked in a battle for the Premier League title

After being thoroughly outclassed by Manchester City in a 2-1 home defeat to the Citizens in 2017, Mourinho was rather unhappy with opposition goalkeeper Ederson Moraes. Instead of stewing on whatever the Brazilian had said, the Portuguese boss decided to confront the ex-Benfica shot-stopper.

His only problem was the heavy door of the away dressing room blocked his path of destruction. It’s understood Mourinho forced his way into the Citizens’ changing room and shouted: “You f****** show respect. Who are you?”

City players responded by throwing water and ‘a one pint carton of milk’ at the manager, who was left drenched. Reports from The Guardian also claimed police had to ‘separate up to 20 players and staff members’ as Mourinho’s players came charging in to support him.

Mourinho throwing water bottles
Jose Mourinho slams a load of water bottles into the ground after Manchester United beat Young Boys in the Champions League.

Every now and then, there were signs the Manchester United job was getting a bit much for Mourinho. The Portuguese boss completely lost control of himself after Marouane Fellaini scored a late winner to gift United a 1-0 Champions League victory over Swiss side Young Boys – a fixture which was expected to be a routine victory for the Red Devils.

Considering the financial dearth between the sides, the result, on paper at least, should have been comfortable. Yet, United were tepid, lacklustre, slow and were close to losing to the European minnows.

When Fellaini scored, Mourinho took out all the pent up anger and frustration on the water bottles next to his technical area. He picked them up, lifted them over his head and slammed them into the Old Trafford turf as if he was holding a pickaxe. As well as amusing the football world, it was another perfect demonstration of how frustrating the role had become.

Awkward facetimes
Jose Mourinho films the action on his phone during day six of the Fever-Tree Championship at the Queen’s Club, London
Mourinho appears to be someone who spends a lot of time on the phone ( Image: PA)
If Mourinho is to replace Ten Hag; Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Hojlund and Co will quickly realise their time with Mourinho does not end after training and matches. Ex-United star Jesse Lingard claimed the 61-year-old is always looking to keep in touch with his players.

So much so that he will start FaceTiming you, without warning, leading to a series of awkward exchanges. In an interview with the Players’ Tribune, Lingard said: “He also liked to have a personal connection with his players. Sometimes I’d look at my phone and I’d be getting a random FaceTime from him. Just out of nowhere — just to check in.

“I used to find it so strange at first. He’d call and be like, ‘Hey Jesse, what are you doing?’ And I’d be like, ‘Erm, just chilling, watching TV … (awkward silence) … what are you doing?’ I found it funny. And, to be fair, it showed how much he cared about us.”

‘Respect, respect, respect’
Mourinho often deployed his tried and tested defence mechanism when posed with awkward questions in press conferences – his three Premier League titles. Cracks began to form early on in his third season in charge at Old Trafford. After his side were soundly defeated 3-0 at home by Tottenham Hotspur, journalists were surprised to hear Mourinho serenade his team’s display.

When posed with some cutting questions about his team’s display, Mourinho held three fingers up and said: “Just to finish, do you know what was the result? 3-0, 3-0. Do you know what this is? 3-0. But it also means three Premierships and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them two [Pep Guardiola and Manuel Pellegrini]. So respect man, respect, respect, respect.”

If he does takeover, he will not be able to deploy his tried and tested argument – if things in the Premier League continue as they are, then Guardiola will boast double the number of Premier League titles.

Mocking Conte’s hairline
Guardiola vs Mourinho was the rivalry everybody was excited for – until Antonio Conte and his 3-4-3 philosophy came and barraged both managers. In his debut season at Chelsea, Conte won the Premier League in dominant fashion. After the Blues overcame Mourinho’s Red Devils 4-0, Mourinho and Conte came to blows in a heated exchange after the match.

At the start of the following season, Conte launched a huge dig at his counterpart, saying Chelsea could not afford to have a “Mourinho season”. Conte was referring to the Portuguese manager’s dismal title defence in his second stint at the club, which saw him dismissed with the Blues languishing in 10th position.

In response, Mourinho smiled and said: “I could answer in many different ways but I am not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio’s comments.” Conte has reportedly had some hair transplants over the last 20 years. Mourinho’s comments would have surely dug into the Italian.

Freezing out Schweinsteiger
When Paul Pogba arrived at United for a then world record £89m, a mouth watering partnership of the mercurial Frenchman and World Cup winning legend Bastian Schweinsteiger looked to be on the cards. Yet, the two talismen were seldom deployed with each other, as Mourinho decided he did not want the German in his side.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5Live, the Bayern Munich legend said: “I didn’t play a lot [under Mourinho] unfortunately, but I still respect him. He’s a great manager who has won a lot of trophies. It was a weird and difficult situation, he never really explained to me why [I didn’t play].

“It was maybe because I played under Pep Guardiola and had played Pep Guardiola football, which he doesn’t like so much, I think. Still, I also liked how Mourinho was, actually, coaching. Of course the game style is different – I think that is why Zlatan left. It was not so much football, sometimes it was more direct. But he had success with his teams. It was just a strange feeling.”

Taunting Juventus fans
Of course, there were many high points during Mourinho’s time with United. One of the most memorable moments was his masterful 2-1 away victory over Juventus in the Champions League. A wonderful free-kick from Juan Mata and an own goal from Leonardo Bonucci cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s second half wonder-goal.

When the final whistle was blown, Mourinho cupped his ears to the furious Juventus fans, who he claimed were abusing him the whole match. It was a classic moment of Mourinho at his mischievous best.

Pogba battle
Finding the Paul Pogba who plays for France and sticking him into a Manchester United shirt was a conundrum that defeated Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Mourinho had the first stab at making Pogba a United legend. Unfortunately for the ex-United manager, he was unable to get the best out of the ex-Juventus hitman, who won the World Cup while he was a United player.

Their relationship soured as time went on before it completely collapsed in Mourinho’s final few months. When pressed about Pogba’s ailing United form, Mourinho consistently shifted the burden onto the Frenchman, claiming it was the player’s job to deliver their best performances.

The ex-Juventus midfielder had also become a global superstar off the pitch and was being offered endorsements from all angles, including his very own emoji. This appeared to frustrate Mourinho who was always demanding more from Pogba. In their final weeks together, an uncomfortable looking exchange between the pair on the training ground was captured and sent to the press. It saw Pogba jog onto the training pitch and greet his team-mates, before Mourinho uttered something to the midfielder, who looked shocked and confused by what was said.