It is easy to be curmudgeonly about what Jose Mourinho has achieved at Manchester United this season.
With his constant whining, his relentless narcissism, his stream of excuses, his attacks on Luke Shaw — a player who nearly lost his career playing in United's colours — and his general lack of grace, he is not an easy manager to love.
Compare him with Antonio Conte, who has taken English football by storm this season, and he looks sour and stale.
Jose Mourinho has guided Manchester United into the final of this season's Europa League
However, the Portuguese has spent much of the season trailing in Antonio Conte's w
The same if you put him next to Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp. His United team have lacked the energy and dynamism of the best teams. For a manager who has achieved so much, he once again has much to prove.
In many ways, United have stood still this season. Some might even say they have gone backwards. They are unlikely now to match the fourth place in the Premier League that Louis van Gaal led them to in his first season at Old Trafford. As things stand, they are struggling to equal the fifth place the doomed Dutchman achieved last season.
United's former captain, Roy Keane, said last week that United's position in the league, now 22 points behind leaders Chelsea, is 'embarrassing'. Mourinho's emphasis on defence made them difficult to beat, as a 25-game run without defeat attests, but it made them look ponderous and dull beside Chelsea and Spurs.
It is surprising that a manager of Mourinho's pedigree has not done better. It is not as if he has been short of cash. The Glazer family has already backed him generously. United's executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, has taken over from Peter Ridsdale as English football's undisputed Father Christmas. For references, ask agent Mino Raiola.
Mourinho spent £145 million on Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba last summer to bolster United's squad. The least that most United fans expected was a top-four finish. That Mourinho is struggling to deliver that has been a grave disappointment.
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