Premier League: Mourinho has set Manchester United in a way Moyes and Van Gaal couldn’t
Jose Mourinho has undoubtedly hit the ground running at Manchester United but his start is even more eye-opening when compared to his two predecessors, says Liam Canning.
Now that José Mourinho is in full swing at Manchester United, it’s interesting to compare the opening games of the last three managers to take the Old Trafford hot seat.
For starters, the Portuguese manager had a full pre-season with his squad and, although the tour of China was a calamity, he got to know the squad inside and out and understood where to strengthen over the summer.
Louis van Gaal first stepped into Old Trafford in the middle of July, after taking charge of the Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup. The problem with this was that LVG had no intensive time with his players and had to make rash decisions in the tumultuous and unforgiving transfer market.
There has been no hesitation in the transfer window this summer under Mourinho, unlike under David Moyes and Van Gaal.
When Moyes first stepped in to replace Sir Alex Ferguson, the Scotsman’s first and only signing that summer was Marouane Fellaini from Everton. The commotion surrounding this transfer was the fact that Manchester United could’ve signed the Belgian midfielder for £23m – his buy-out clause – earlier in the summer. However, time was wasted and indecisiveness prevailed and, in the end, the Red Devils signed him for £27m - £4m more than what should have been required.
Mourinho has had a long time off since being sacked by Chelsea in December 2015, and with the knowledge that he'd likely be in charge at Old Trafford before last season had finished, the Portuguese manager has had time look in detail at what the Red Devils severely lacked.
In short, they needed a new spine. And that’s exactly what they got. Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimović came in this summer. Say those four names last year or under Moyes and perhaps only Bailly would now be playing at Old Trafford. That’s the importance of hiring a globally successful manager - to attract world-class players without the added luxury of Champions League football.
Mourinho pressured Ed Woodward, Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman, into getting those four transfers over the line and that’s exactly what happened. The last arrival, Pogba, came a week before the opening Premier League game against Bournemouth. Although he didn’t feature, the combative French midfielder settled in to his old club and was up to speed in just a fortnight.
Comparing each manager’s opening four games is eye-opening: Mourinho has won all four of his against Leicester City, Bournemouth, Southampton and Hull; Moyes won 2 against Wigan and Swansea, drew to Chelsea and lost to Liverpool; LVG lost to Swansea, drew with Sunderland and Burnley and beat QPR.
It’s evident that Bournemouth aren’t to the same standard of when Moyes played Chelsea, but it’s alarming that the Dutchmen couldn’t navigate past Sunderland and Burnley with the quality of players at his disposal. There was talk of adapting to a new team, and for any manager that is true enough, but Mourinho’s hit the ground running and building confidence, while LVG and Moyes stuttered and stagnated.
This comes down to off-field issues - Mourinho was striking over the summer and secured the players he needed while completing a full pre-season, whereas Moyes and LVG did not.
The Manchester derby comes next on September 10 which poses the first real test for Mourinho’s United, and if they can win at Old Trafford, they will surely be favourites for the Premier League title.
Follow Liam on Twitter: @LiamPaulCanning
