Honours And Trophy Count
Mourinho's United honours are counted here as two major competitive trophies and one other listed honour. The Community Shield is retained in the listed-honours total but separated from the Europa League and League Cup in the methodology. [2]
UEFA Europa League
Season: 2016-17
Final: Manchester United 2-0 Ajax, Friends Arena, Stockholm.
League Cup
Season: 2016-17
Final: Manchester United 3-2 Southampton, Wembley Stadium.
Community Shield
Season: 2016-17 curtain-raiser
Listed honour, counted separately from major competitive trophies.
Season-By-Season Record
Mourinho managed two full seasons and left during the 2018-19 campaign. The partial row is labelled so the numbers are not presented as a complete season.
| Season | League finish | Points | Matches under Mourinho | Win rate | Trophies | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 6th | 69 | 64 | 57.8% | Europa League, League Cup, Community Shield | Returned to the Champions League through the Europa League route. |
| 2017-18 | 2nd | 81 | 56 | 66.1% | None | Best post-Ferguson league finish at that point. [4] |
| 2018-19 | Partial season | 26 at departure | 24 | 41.7% | None | Dismissed on 18 December 2018 after results declined. [3] |
League points and finish under Mourinho
The SVG plots Premier League points for the two complete seasons and marks 2018-19 as a partial-season departure point.
Before Manchester United
Mourinho arrived as one of the defining managers of the modern era. Before United he had won the Champions League with Porto and Inter, league titles with Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid, and had built a reputation for immediate impact.
His past also came with warning signs: intense dressing-room environments, public conflict and short cycles. United accepted that trade-off because the club wanted trophies and authority quickly after the controlled but slow Van Gaal period.
Why He Was Appointed
United wanted a manager with status, edge and a record of winning immediately. Mourinho had won Champions Leagues and domestic titles across Europe, and the club backed him with signings such as Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Tenure
His first season brought the League Cup and Europa League, returning United to the Champions League. In 2017-18 he finished second in the Premier League, later framing that as one of his best achievements because of the squad's deeper issues.
Pressure Points
The Mourinho cycle became familiar: public criticism, reported tension over recruitment, and strained relationships with players. Contemporary reporting documented the Pogba vice-captaincy dispute and training-ground exchange; this archive interprets those episodes as symbols of a wider breakdown rather than as the only cause of the decline. [6] [7]
Exit And Legacy
He was sacked in December 2018 after a poor run and a heavy defeat at Liverpool. Mourinho left trophies behind, but also a sense that United had become too reactive, too tense and too dependent on managerial confrontation.
Players Brought In
Mourinho's first summer was one of United's most dramatic: Paul Pogba returned, Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived on a free transfer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan came from Borussia Dortmund and Eric Bailly joined from Villarreal. Later additions showed a more urgent attempt to add power and experience, while later reporting described recruitment disagreement around the final summer as part of the context for the breakdown. [8]
The table supplements the recruitment analysis without publishing unsourced exact fees. Each season link now opens the relevant individual season page generated from the archive season dataset.
| Player | Joined | Previous club | Transfer type | Manager-era outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Pogba | 2016-17 | Juventus | Permanent transfer | Central to the 2016-17 trophies, later became a public symbol of dressing-room tension. |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 2016-17 | Paris Saint-Germain | Free transfer | Immediate goals and authority before a serious knee injury interrupted the spell. |
| Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 2016-17 | Borussia Dortmund | Permanent transfer | Scored in the Europa League final but later left in the Alexis Sanchez exchange. |
| Eric Bailly | 2016-17 | Villarreal | Permanent transfer | Strong first impression, then injuries and inconsistency limited continuity. |
| Romelu Lukaku | 2017-18 | Everton | Permanent transfer | Gave United a direct centre-forward option and heavy scoring burden. |
| Nemanja Matic | 2017-18 | Chelsea | Permanent transfer | Added midfield experience for the second-place league season. |
| Victor Lindelöf | 2017-18 | Benfica | Permanent transfer | Longer-term centre-back signing who outlasted Mourinho's tenure. |
| Alexis Sánchez | 2017-18 | Arsenal | Player exchange | High-profile move that added wage pressure and did not transform the attack. |
| Fred | 2018-19 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Permanent transfer | Arrived during the final summer before Mourinho's December exit. |
| Diogo Dalot | 2018-19 | Porto | Permanent transfer | Developmental full-back signing who became more important after Mourinho. |
Record At A Glance
Across the recorded Manchester United matches, José Mourinho finished with 84 wins, 32 draws and 28 defeats. The goal record was 244 scored and 121 conceded, a goal difference of 123.
Open external biographyHow José Mourinho Compares
This table uses the same common manager metrics as the comparison hub so short, caretaker and older profiles can be read against adjacent tenures without leaving the page.
| Manager | Matches | Wins | Win rate | Listed honours | Tenure / spell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| José Mourinho | 144 | 84 | 58.33% | 3 listed honours | 2 yr 6 mo |
| Louis van Gaal | 103 | 54 | 52.43% | 1 listed honour | 1 yr 10 mo |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 168 | 91 | 54.17% | 0 listed honours | 2 yr 11 mo |
Open the interactive comparison for José Mourinho and Louis van Gaal.
Written and researched by John Templeton.
First published: not recorded in this static archive. Last updated: 15 June 2026. Last fact-checked: 15 June 2026. Data version: 2025-26 season complete.