When Manchester United lifted the Europe League trophy in Stockholm in May 2017, the exuberant fans believed it was the moment when United re-announced themselves as a powerhouse in Europe.
Fast forward 15 months and the club looks to be in complete disarray.
Even though Jose Mourinho will argue that a second place finish in a campaign where their 'noisy neighbours' Manchester City ran away with the title in itself was an achievement.
But, critics and fans alike will remember the season for the poor brand of football clubbed with the team exiting the Champions League at an early stage and losing the FA Cup final to a Chelsea side whose struggling manager (Antonio Conte) was sacked a while later. Not a season to brag or fondly remember about.
Add to it the club had a disastrous transfer window this summer with Mourinho missing out on his priority targets. With Fred the only regular first team addition to the squad, it's safe to pardon the die-hard Mourinho fans for having a deja vu feeling.
It seems all too familiar for Mourinho at his third season - a season starting with the manager making most of the noise than the fans at the stadium.
Every time when Mourinho begins to blame everyone and everything and gets into the whole world-is-against-us ideology, one can smell the inevitable disastrous third season coming back to haunt him.
It happened twice with Chelsea, once with Real Madrid and now with United it looks all so familiar.
He will surely do everything he possibly can to stop the history from repeating itself, but for that he has to first change his perception at which he looks at the club and the challenge that lies ahead of him
Yes, United had a terrible window, yes their rivals strengthened their squads, but for years Alex Ferguson managed to achieve so much with his Manchester United team without getting his wish in the transfer window.
Even recently one can look at Zinedine Zidane's all conquering Real Madrid squad. He hardly made any big signings during his near 3-year tenure, but his side was virtually unstoppable, winning 3 Champions League titles on the bounce.
If one takes a closer look at things, then they will notice that this current squad is far better than any of the sides Manchester United has had since Cristiano Ronaldo left the club at the end of 2009 season.
Mourinho has signed 3 midfielders, 2 centre-forwards (although one in Zlatan Ibrahimovic left), 2 world-class attackers (again one in Henrikh Mkhitaryan left) and 2 centre-backs in the last three years. He virtually got a new team full of superstars.
Even comparing to the team which started the opening week last season, United are in a better shape with an extra midfielder in Fred and a world-class winger in Alexis Sanchez (who was signed in January) in their squad.
With that side, United started last season on a positive note, winning 4-0 in their opening weekend. Although the team's performance slowly faded, the squad was brimming with confidence at the beginning of the campaign.
Taking that into account the current squad should be in a better position than last campaign and should be gearing up for the new season in all conquering manner. So I, as a Manchester United fan, will not accept that we are in a complete turmoil.
Mourinho can argue about the injuries to Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera, but they have perfect replacements in youngsters such as Andreas Pereira and Scott Mctominay - a luxury he did not have last season.
So Mourinho should forget the transfer window fiasco and his past failing at this stage and rather should concentrate on making the most of what he has at his disposal.
At hindsight Mourinho knows his prolonged stay at the club is not all about winning the league and the Champions League title this season. If the club can show some sort of an improvement and provide a decent challenge to the eventual leader at the top, then that might just be enough for him to survive his 3rd season jinx.
So the challenge is simple for you Jose - improve the style of play, try to improve or atleast match the points tally in the Premier League and have a better European campaign - then the job is yours again come this time next season.
Fast forward 15 months and the club looks to be in complete disarray.
Even though Jose Mourinho will argue that a second place finish in a campaign where their 'noisy neighbours' Manchester City ran away with the title in itself was an achievement.
But, critics and fans alike will remember the season for the poor brand of football clubbed with the team exiting the Champions League at an early stage and losing the FA Cup final to a Chelsea side whose struggling manager (Antonio Conte) was sacked a while later. Not a season to brag or fondly remember about.
Add to it the club had a disastrous transfer window this summer with Mourinho missing out on his priority targets. With Fred the only regular first team addition to the squad, it's safe to pardon the die-hard Mourinho fans for having a deja vu feeling.
It seems all too familiar for Mourinho at his third season - a season starting with the manager making most of the noise than the fans at the stadium.
Every time when Mourinho begins to blame everyone and everything and gets into the whole world-is-against-us ideology, one can smell the inevitable disastrous third season coming back to haunt him.
It happened twice with Chelsea, once with Real Madrid and now with United it looks all so familiar.
He will surely do everything he possibly can to stop the history from repeating itself, but for that he has to first change his perception at which he looks at the club and the challenge that lies ahead of him
Yes, United had a terrible window, yes their rivals strengthened their squads, but for years Alex Ferguson managed to achieve so much with his Manchester United team without getting his wish in the transfer window.
Even recently one can look at Zinedine Zidane's all conquering Real Madrid squad. He hardly made any big signings during his near 3-year tenure, but his side was virtually unstoppable, winning 3 Champions League titles on the bounce.
If one takes a closer look at things, then they will notice that this current squad is far better than any of the sides Manchester United has had since Cristiano Ronaldo left the club at the end of 2009 season.
Mourinho has signed 3 midfielders, 2 centre-forwards (although one in Zlatan Ibrahimovic left), 2 world-class attackers (again one in Henrikh Mkhitaryan left) and 2 centre-backs in the last three years. He virtually got a new team full of superstars.
Even comparing to the team which started the opening week last season, United are in a better shape with an extra midfielder in Fred and a world-class winger in Alexis Sanchez (who was signed in January) in their squad.
With that side, United started last season on a positive note, winning 4-0 in their opening weekend. Although the team's performance slowly faded, the squad was brimming with confidence at the beginning of the campaign.
Taking that into account the current squad should be in a better position than last campaign and should be gearing up for the new season in all conquering manner. So I, as a Manchester United fan, will not accept that we are in a complete turmoil.
Mourinho can argue about the injuries to Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera, but they have perfect replacements in youngsters such as Andreas Pereira and Scott Mctominay - a luxury he did not have last season.
So Mourinho should forget the transfer window fiasco and his past failing at this stage and rather should concentrate on making the most of what he has at his disposal.
At hindsight Mourinho knows his prolonged stay at the club is not all about winning the league and the Champions League title this season. If the club can show some sort of an improvement and provide a decent challenge to the eventual leader at the top, then that might just be enough for him to survive his 3rd season jinx.
So the challenge is simple for you Jose - improve the style of play, try to improve or atleast match the points tally in the Premier League and have a better European campaign - then the job is yours again come this time next season.
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