Mourinho sacked as Man United manager
As Jose Mourinho leaves Manchester United, ESPN take a look back at his best and worst moments in the media. (1:55)
Manchester United have sacked Jose Mourinho after Saturday’s defeat at Liverpool left the club 11 points adrift of the Premier League top four.
The 55-year-old departs Old Trafford after two-and-a-half years with United sixth in the table, 19 points off the top, with only one win in the league since Nov. 3.
He was informed of the decision at the club’s Carrington training ground on Tuesday morning, with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward delivering the news in person around 9.30 a.m.
Mourinho was completely surprised by the decision.
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Manchester United have sacked Jose Mourinho after Saturday’s defeat at Liverpool left the club 11 points adrift of the Premier League top four.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is Manchester United’s top target to become the club’s next permanent manager.
Deliberate isolation. Petty feuds. Constant turmoil. The Manchester United manager wouldn’t have it any other way, writes Sam Borden.
The United board decided to act after growing frustrated with Mourinho’s performance in a number of areas, notably first-team results, transfers, development of youth and style of football.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is the preferred choice as permanent boss, although there is an acceptance that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will fight to keep a coach who has guided the club to three consecutive top-three finishes.
Assistant Michael Carrick and academy chief Nicky Butt will take over in the immediate interim, although there is no indication that the pair will be in charge for United’s next game against Cardiff on Saturday.
A caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current campaign with a permanent manager put in place ahead of next season. That appointment is likely to be from outside the club — with former players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Laurent Blanc discussed as possible candidates internally in recent weeks.
A statement issued on Tuesday morning read: “Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future.
“A new caretaker manager will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager.”
United’s players and staff were given the day off on Monday following the 3-1 loss at Anfield.
Mourinho took charge of United in the summer of 2016 following the departure of Louis van Gaal, winning the Europa League and EFL Cup in his first season.
But although United finished second in the Premier League last season, they were a distant 19 points behind champions Manchester City, lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup final and were knocked out by Sevilla in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Mourinho signed an extension to his contract in January that could have kept him at Old Trafford until 2021 but there were always growing concerns at board level that no one should feel “they are bigger than the club.”
He has cut an increasingly frustrated figure over the past year — particularly after the failure to sign a centre-back in the summer.
Mourinho has had high-profile spats with key players, most notably Paul Pogba, throughout 2018 culminating with the France international being stripped of the vice-captaincy in September. Pogba has not been in the United team for the last four Premier League fixtures.