Souness - Mourinho remains the wrong manager for Man Utd

Jun 27, 2017 1:00 PM

Manchester United only appointed Jose Mourinho as manager as they knew they needed a “big name” to rival Pep Guardiola, according to former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness.

Former Inter Milan and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was named as the replacement for Louis van Gaal in the Old Trafford hot seat on a three-year deal – following on from Manchester City’s announcement in February that Guardiola would be succeeding Manuel Pellegrini as manager at the Etihad.

But while the 54-year-old Mourinho won both the EFL Cup and the Europa League in his first season, the fact the club finished as low as sixth in the Premier League will have been a huge embarrassment to the club and former Red coach Souness believes it proves the Portuguese ‘isn’t the right man for United’.

“I didn’t think Mourinho was right for United and I said that from day one,” Souness told Yahoo.

“Because Guardiola was coming in at Manchester City, the people making decisions at Old Trafford felt compelled to go and get a big name manager and they ended up with Jose.

“He has taken on a very difficult job at United and struggled to find his find his best eleven last season if he ever found it.

“A big concern for me that their best player for most of the last season was a 35-year-old in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with 35-year-old Michael Carrick also one of the top performers.

“Mourinho is used to winning league titles and finishing where he did last season in the Premier League will not be acceptable, but it won’t be easy to put it right.”