Jose Mourinho (2016 - 2018)
Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford after the reign of Louis van Gaal with the expectation of bringing a combination of tactical courage and strong personality. At that time, he was still considered one of the few people who could face Pep Guardiola on par. In the 2016-17 season, the Special One won a small treble with the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League.
Mourinho later shared that the greatest success of his career was the Premier League runner-up position in the 2017-2019 season, which was more difficult to achieve than winning the Champions League or La Liga in the past.
However, Pep's gap with Man City is too big, while the team's internal tensions continue to be strained by the "civil war" between Mourinho and Paul Pogba. The Portuguese coach has gradually lost patience, talking more about past successes rather than the future of Man United.
After leaving Man United, Mourinho recreated his familiar cycle with a successful start, building a "we fight the rest" spirit, then the crisis when he turned to criticizing everyone. Tottenham, AS Roma and most recently Fenerbahce have all gone through this loop. A rare bright spot is the 2021-2022 Conference League championship with AS Roma.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (2018 - 2021)
Solskjaer was appointed interim manager after Mourinho and immediately brought a positive atmosphere. 6 wins in the first 7 matches, along with a 3-1 comeback against PSG in the 1/8 round of the Champions League, made him the top choice for the official position. As a former striker who was associated with Man United during his golden period, Solskjaer brings a sense of familiarity with club culture.
Under his reign, Man United made it into the Premier League Top 4 for the first time since Sir Alex in 2 consecutive seasons, and reached the semi-finals of cup competitions many times. However, the defeat in the 2021 Europa League final against Villarreal marked a turning point. Solskjaer hopes that contracts such as Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane or Cristiano Ronaldo will help the team break through, but CR7's return accidentally exposes long-standing tactical problems. A series of declining matches and a 1-4 defeat to Watford forced the Norwegian strategist to leave.
After nearly 3 years of "hiding", Solskjaer will return to Besiktas in early 2025. He helped the Turkish team finish 4th but was quickly fired after being eliminated from the Conference League. However, many historical figures will see Solskjaer with a more fair view as a coach who is good at human governance, contributing to raising Man United's standards even though he cannot surpass the monopoly of Liverpool and Man City.
Erik ten Hag (2022 - 2024)
Expected to bring the 2018-2019 Ajax philosophy to Old Trafford, Ten Hag had a good start when he helped Man United win the 2022-2023 League Cup, ending 6 years without a trophy. He then joined the Red Devils to win the 2023-2024 FA Cup after defeating Pep Guardiola's Man City. However, tactical problems were apparent, especially the 0-7 defeat to Liverpool, gradually eroding confidence.
Foreign failures and lack of clarity in conveying tactical ideas caused him to gradually lose the dressing room. Despite winning 2 titles in 2 seasons, 8th place in the Premier League 2024-2025 is the last straw. In addition, Ten Hag's transfer mistakes are also a prominent issue. Antony and Hojlund are two deals that have been widely criticized under the Dutch coach.
After leaving Old Trafford, Ten Hag accepted to lead Leverkusen but only stayed for 3 official matches. Sporting director Simon rolfes frankly stated that building a team with Ten Hag's structure is not feasible.
Why is the coaching position at Man United always unstable?
Since David Moyes, generations of captains at Man United have always been appointed to overcome the weaknesses of their predecessors but have been defeated by their own new weaknesses. Van Gaal was considered outdated, Mourinho edited it but caused division. Solskjaer brought unity but lacked tactics. Ten Hag came to supplement discipline and tactical thinking but became a bad communicator.
The common point is that Man United's leadership, from Glazer to INEOS, always wants the head coach to play an all-round role like Sir Alex Ferguson but does not provide enough mechanism, structure and patience for them to develop. Ruben Amorim himself pointed out this loop when M.U appointed according to a reaction cycle, not a long-term vision.
