Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United have had their worst start to a Premier League campaign since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
After 13 games United lie in sixth with just 20 points, while his touchline antics and controversial comments have hit the headlines – with the Portuguese being sent to the stands in Sunday’s game against West Ham.
Mourinho’s side have now drawn four times in a row at home, something that hasn’t happened since 1980. In contrast, under the doomed stewardship of David Moyes, United picked up 22 points from their first 13 league games.
Meanwhile Louis van Gaal also picked up 22 – rising to 27 in 13 in his second campaign in charge.
We took a look at how things panned out for Mourinho’s predecessors.
What happened next
Under Moyes, the 14th and 15th games were among the worst of his reign as Manchester United suffered back-to-back home defeats for the first time in 11 years.
They bounced back from defeats to Everton and Newcastle with four wins on the bounce, but having dropped as low as ninth as defending champions, the writing was already on the wall for Moyes.
Things went a little better for Van Gaal, with his United side in the middle of a six-match winning run in his first year in charge.
Narrow wins over Stoke and Southampton were followed by a comprehensive 3-0 win over rivals Liverpool to leave the Reds third in the league, but a subsequent run of one win in five saw them lose ground in the title race.
However, it proved to be a successful first year in charge for the Dutchman.
What they said
The pressure was already starting to mount on Moyes after his 13th game – a 2-2 draw at Tottenham. That left them nine points behind league leaders Arsenal, and Moyes admitted it was on his mind.
“We are concerned that we are not as close as we would like to be,” he said. “But it is a long season. We still have got room to progress and get better. That is undoubted. Hopefully we will be there or thereabouts.”
In contrast, things were looking good for Van Gaal, who followed up a 2-1 win at Arsenal with a 3-0 win over Hull.
He said: “It is the first match that we have dominated the game from the first minute until the last minute and in a way that I like. I was very pleased with the performance and the result and I have told the players that.”
As for Mourinho, after the stalemate with West Ham over the weekend he chose not to personally face the media, leaving his assistant Rui Faria to deal with the press.
With a charge from the FA for his conduct to boot, things aren’t looking all that positive.
