Jose Mourinho ‘wants to manage Manchester United for a second time’ and would ‘walk’ back to Old Trafford as Erik ten Hag’s job future comes under increasing scrutiny
- Mourinho has reportedly told confidantes that he would like a second spell at United
- But the club is not considering the Portuguese if they replace Erik ten Hag
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Jose Mourinho is reportedly keen to coach Manchester United for a second time and has told confidantes he would willingly ‘walk’ to Old Trafford to do so.
The Portuguese, 61, was in charge of United between the summer of 2016 and December 2018, winning the EFL Cup and Europa League in his first season before suffering an acrimonious departure.
Mourinho is a friend of United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and according to the Manchester Evening Newswould happily accept the opportunity to return.
However, the club does not want to reappoint Mourinho, who does not expect an approach soon. Mourinho left Roma – his second job after United – in January.
It comes as Erik ten Hag’s future as United boss comes under even more scrutiny following Monday night’s horror 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
Jose Mourinho has reportedly told confidants he would like a second spell at Man United
The pressure on United boss Erik ten Hag continues to increase after a 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace
United’s thirteenth league defeat of the season – a record in the post-1992 era – left United eighth in the Premier League, with European football not guaranteed next season.
Ten Hag can still clinch the FA Cup, with United set to meet Manchester City at Wembley on May 25, but it may not be enough to save his job as Ratcliffe and Ineos consider his future.
United have been assessing potential replacements for Ten Hag, who won the Carabao Cup and guided the side back to the Champions League last season before slipping backwards.
Mourinho succeeded another Dutchman, Louis van Gaal, shortly after winning the FA Cup with United in 2016.
On Monday evening, Ten Hag compared the lack of fight in his team to the enthusiasm of the supporters when he called the abysmal performance ‘not good enough by far’.
“Clearly this is underperforming. We should have kept fighting like the fans did,” the United boss said.
“It wasn’t correct, we made big mistakes, we didn’t follow the plan, the script and the rules that we have. Of course also individual mistakes, but then we would have had to cover each other, and we didn’t do that. We let each other down and you get the worst defeat.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right), Sir Dave Brailsford (left) and Ineos must make a decision about Ten Hag
Mourinho led United to success in the 2016/17 Europa League during his first spell there
But things quickly took a turn for the worse for the Portuguese before he left United in December 2018
Ten Hag insisted he remains the man who can take United forward in the face of a crippling injury crisis.
“Absolutely,” he said. ‘If the right players are present and available, we have a good selection.
‘I will keep fighting. I prepared the team as best as possible. Ultimately I have to make do with the players that are available.’
When asked if this was the low point of the season, he replied: ‘Yes, it was very bad. How we gave away the goals and most importantly, easy giveaways and that shouldn’t happen.’
