The Red Devils have won just two of their last eight
matches in all competitions and sit 11 points off
fourth place in the Premier League
Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Manchester
United following their disappointing start to the
season.
The Red Devils currently sit sixth in the Premier
League table but have already lost five times in 17
matches, leaving them 19 points behind leaders
Liverpool and 11 off fourth-placed Chelsea in the
fight for Champions League places.
That follows a summer transfer window in which
Mourinho routinely complained about a lack of
signings, with the Portuguese unable to persuade
the club's hierarchy to sign a new centre-back.
Mourinho has continued to drop hints that he
remains unhappy at that failure to spend big, and he
now leaves after two-and-a-half years at the Old
Trafford helm, with his final match in charge
Sunday's 3-1 defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool.
"Manchester United announces that manager Jose
Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect," a
statement read .
"The club would like to thank Jose for his work
during his time at Manchester United and to wish
him success in the future.
"A new caretaker manager will be appointed until
the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new,
full-time manager."
Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal in the United
hotseat in the summer of 2016 and was tasked
with leading the 20-time English champions back to
the top of the domestic game after a barren three
years since Sir Alex Ferguson's appointment.
He started well, winning the Community Shield in
his first match in charge before claiming the League
Cup thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired 3-2 win
over Southampton .
Form in the league was not as strong, however, with
the Red Devils only able to finish in sixth place,
though their season did end on a high as a 2-0 win
over Ajax in the final of the Europa League saw
them qualify for the 2017-18 Champions League.
Mourinho's second season in charge saw United
finish a distant second in the Premier League to
Pep Guardiola's record-breaking Manchester City,
and while they crashed out of the Champions
League to Sevilla in the last 16 and lost the FA Cup
final to Chelsea, there was hope the former Real
Madrid boss would be able to kick on again having
signed a new improved contract in the early weeks
of 2018.
That has not come to pass, however, with United
currently on a run of just two wins from eight
matches in all competitions.
Further to performances on the pitch, reports of
dressing room unrest have overshadowed Man
Utd's performances over the course of the season,
with Mourinho's relationship with club-record signing
Paul Pogba a constant talking point.
World Cup winner Pogba has struggled for
consistency under Mourinho, and this season things
seem to have taken a turn for the worse, with the
former Juventus man unable to hold down a regular
berth in Mourinho's preferred 11.
Reports suggest assistant coach Michael Carrick is
not in the frame to take on that role, with the
interim manager's first game on Saturday away at
Cardiff City, with an external candidate expected to
be appointed within 48 hours.
Zinedine Zidane and Mauricio Pochettino,
meanwhile, are among the favourites to take the
role full-time come the summer.