Why Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United

After being in position for two-and-a-half years, Jose Mourinho was sacked as Manchester United manager. At the fag end of his tenure, United won just two of their last eight matches in all competitions as they sit 11 points from fourth place in the Premier League.

Mourinho who won the FA Cup and the Europa League at Old Trafford has now been shown the door after a terrible performance against Liverpool. It is understood that Michael Carrick will look after affairs before the club appoints an external candidate to take charge for the rest of the season.

"A caretaker-manager will be appointed until the end of the season while the club conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager," United said in a statement.

"The club would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester United and to wish him success in the future."

Liverpool demolition

Mourinho’s United were outplayed 3-1 at Anfield, 19 points off leaders Liverpool. The Reds who dominated the majority of the match had 36 shots – the most United have faced in a Premier League match. Man Utd this season have conceded 29 goals – one more than they did in the whole of the 2017-18 campaign (28).

The 55-year-old leaves the club with a worse defensive record than Huddersfield, the same goal difference as Leicester and the same number of wins as Bournemouth.

Losing the dressing room

Not just on the field, reports of dressing room unrest overshadowed Man Utd's performances over the course of the season. Mourinho left behind a dressing room full of average footballers ambling towards a mid-table finish.

The Portuguese hit out at the notion that he has lost the Manchester United dressing room following his side's defeat. When asked, “Do you think the squad are with you? Have you got the backing of the whole dressing room? Are they playing for you?”

He replied, “What is that? Are you calling the players dishonest? You are asking me if they are dishonest. I believe they are honest and you believe they are dishonest. A footballer has to give the maximum every day, every match, every minute, it doesn't matter the manager, it doesn't matter anything.”

Bad man management

Mourinho and Paul Pogba's relationship deteriorated to the point that the manager had not allowed the Frenchman to captain the club again. After signing Pobga in August 2016 to making him the captain, the manager had defended the player in every possible way calling him as one of the best.

However, during January, Pogba was brought off against Spurs after an hour into the match. Just before he was brought, the two had a long discussion on the touchline and then the player was hauled off. Following that Pogba started in just nine games and speculation mounted that their relationship was at an all-time low.

Bad transfers

Since Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford, United have spent £312m on players, a net expenditure of £260m. In comparison , Klopp's LIverpool spent  £221m. Justifying his failure despite his spends, he had said: "It’s not just about the money they spend in the summer, is about many things," he told a press conference.

“It’s not just about spending money and reinforcing the squad, a football team is more than that, is not just about spending the money. It’s like a house, it’s not just about buying the furniture, you have to do work, you spend money on the best possible furniture and then you’re ready to live in an amazing house.”