You Bet | ‘Special One’ Mourinho is rapidly becoming yesterday’s man
Chelsea’s current success heightens contrast with the Portuguese boss’ lack of achievement in recent times with United struggling to make an impact this season
Today marks the first anniversary of Jose Mourinho’s second departure from Chelsea and the current standings in the English Premier League make clear that the club has emerged in better shape than its former manager.
Mourinho takes his Manchester United side to West Brom in Saturday night’s late game with a yawning 13-point gap between his new club and Chelsea, who are setting a ferocious pace at the top.
Chelsea’s fortunes have turned around completely since Mourinho’s exit. Guus Hiddink stabilised the club as caretaker manager in the second half of last season and now Antonio Conte has breathed new fire into the players Mourinho left behind.
This time last year Chelsea were 16th in the table with 15 points, a mere point above the relegation zone. But Conte’s Chelsea have advanced so quickly that they have accumulated 40 points from their first 16 games – a total the Blues did not reach until March 5 last season, after 29 matches.
Contrast that with United’s stop-start progress under their new manager. Being in charge at Old Trafford may be his dream job, but it has been a struggle so far for Mourinho. He started with three straight wins in the league but has added only four more in 13 games and three of those were against teams in the bottom seven.