Why does it always go so wrong for Jose Mourinho in his third season?
It was Jose Mourinho’s first press conference as Manchester United manager, back in July 2016, that actually told us everything we needed to know. Mourinho might have just landed the most prestigious job in English football, but he had also just overseen the most extraordinary unravelling of a title-winning team in Premier League history.
So what lessons had been learnt? And how, as still a relatively young manager, would he adapt to ensure that the already widely-anticipated third-season syndrome would prove to be a myth?
The answer came after only eight minutes when he was asked, in light of the Chelsea implosion, whether he now had a point to prove. Mourinho looked taken aback. His eyes narrowed and he asked for the question to be repeated before delivering what felt like a carefully prepared riposte. “There are some managers that the last time they won a title was 10 years ago,” he said. “Others, the last time they won a title was never. The last time I won a title was a year ago. So if I have a lot to prove, imagine the others.”
The wider message was clear. Despite a pattern that was becoming so predictable, Mourinho would not be changing. And so methods which did generally inspire an immediate positive impact before peaking in the second season would continue. The big caveat of course was that year three, if you dared go that far, came with the near certainty of ultimately fatal and irreparable cracks.
Act One
The main difference between Mourinho’s recent jobs at Real Madrid, Chelsea and now Manchester United are that the initial highs were less spectacular than the glorious first phase of his career at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan. And so, yes, although there was an undeniable immediate impact in the form of two trophies, the success of the first season would ultimately hinge on beating Ajax to add the Europa League to an earlier League Cup win. Neither final performance was convincing - and a sixth-placed Premier League finish underlined significant wider weaknesses - but United were back in the Champions League and Mourinho’s reputation for getting the job done was intact.
Act Two
Remarkably, Mourinho had won the league title in the second season of all five of his previous jobs. It was the moment at which he had extracted significant investment to rebuild in his image whilst remaining fresh enough with his players to inspire new heights. The signings of Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic briefly felt potentially decisive and United matched Manchester City early last season.
An additional pincer, however, was at play and their challenge would fizzle out into a 19-point deficit. Physical counter-attacking teams are being superseded by those in the image of Pep Guardiola, with their relentless pressing and passing. The modern player is less deferential and unquestioning of authority. They require more nuanced man-management. Mourinho’s own adjustments to all this would remain stubbornly insufficient.
Act Three
There was, then, an inevitability about the ending. United peaked in finishing second before a summer of transfer discontent, stories of dressing room unrest and, yes, another P45. Physical burnout has been one theory behind this third-season syndrome but more convincing is a sense of psychological exhaustion with a managerial style that, even in happier times, Mourinho once described with reference to ‘confrontational leadership’.
This, he explained, was when he might consciously try to provoke a player with something he might publicly say or do, in the hope of sparking some reaction and desire to prove him wrong. It would seemingly extend to club executives if he was unhappy with the transfer business. And when the unravelling begins, it appears only to gather momentum.
Can Mourinho now respond? For those who fondly remember a manager and personality who once seemed touched by authentic genius, the hope will be yes. But it will now require proper self-reflection and, unlike after leaving Chelsea three years ago, a new approach that reflects the modern realities of a manager’s working environment.
