Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville predicts that Jose Mourinho won’t last more than three seasons at Manchester United.
Manchester United fans are excited for Jose Mourinho’s impending arrival since it was announced. After enduring three forgettable seasons with David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, the consensus surrounding the club is that Jose Mourinho will restore the club to its glory days and win lots of trophies.
However, when speaking to BBC Five Live (h/t ESPN FC), Phil Neville, one of the club’s best defenders of all time and younger brother to Gary Neville, doesn’t see Mourinho’s time at Manchester United being a long one.
He even put a time stamp on how long he believes he’ll last.
"I can’t see [Jose] staying too long at Man United, maybe two or three years, that seems to be his shelf life at a football club.When Jose finishes at a club it tends to be a pattern where he falls out with a few players, he gets disgruntled and the team dips. It happened at Chelsea, it certainly happened at Real Madrid where there were rumours he fell out with a few players. He comes into a club, he gets success but he doesn’t stay for too long."
It’s true that the longest time Mourinho’s ever spent with one club was three seasons and three months in his first spell at Chelsea. His methods may be meticulous, but they pay off. But in the long run, it’s easy to see why players would get unsettled by his constant demands. He doesn’t do fans any favors either by selling off long-time favorites such as Iker Casillas and Petr Cech.
Neville still believes that Mourinho’s time at Manchester United will be a successful one, and that the team will win more than just one FA Cup in three years.
"He’s a proven winner, a proven champion. Don’t be surprised if United in the next month, and particularly before the Euros, sign three or four players and when he gets to pre-season he has his squad already in place.He knows who he wants and at the start he will demand United sign those players for United to become championship challengers again."
Even if Mourinho lasts only three years at Manchester United, it will be much better than the last three years that Man U fans have had to endure.
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