Is Jose Mourinho the entire problem of Manchester United or players like Pogba, who continuously put up uninspiring and quizzical performance on the field, or the below average defenders like Samlling, Jones etc who lack the much needed confidence and solidity that are hallmark of good defenders? Or could it be that the management of the club (Woodward) who did not throw their weight behind Jose Mourinho in the transfer market to sanction the players he needed to fortify the team? Talking about a central defender he requested for before the commencement of the current season…
My take: It is quite unfortunate that in situations like this the head (coach) bears the brunt, that is what is obtainable in every sphere. But the fact remains that Mourinho is not the problem of Manchester United because if he was, he wouldn’t have won the Europa league, League cup, and the Community Shield trophy in his first season at the club, bearing in mind that he met unsettled and disjointed team when he arrived at Manchester United.

More so, last season second position finish for Manchester United behind their arch-rival, Manchester City was the best result Manchester United have ever achieved in the league after Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. So how could Mourinho be the problem of the club? Mourinho is not infallible though, in fact, fallibility can never be eliminated from human existence. He has his own shortcomings agreed.

I think Manchester United management have treated symptoms of a disease rather than tackling head on the root cause of the disease. In my own estimation, the past two coaches- Louis Van Gaal and David Moyees who handled Manchester United had done some damages to the team by not signing the right players with the right mentality to perfectly fit into a big team like Manchester United, especially the defenders. And Woodward has the greater part of the blame. He didn’t give Mourinho the support he needed in the transfer market.
When there is a disconnect between the management and the coach then, the club suffers. Mourinho was hired to rebuild Manchester United team and when he’s not getting the total support in his rebuilding process what happens? The lame excuses some football faithful put forward that Mourinho is spending too much on players or what has he done with the players he bought, to me doesn’t hold any water.
The truth is a coach may go for a player based on his exploit in another team, and such a player may not be able to replicate that performance in his new club. It happens in every club…i mean examples of that abound. You don’t quit trying new methods if the ones you have been using are failing you. Do you? So does it mean that if Man U employ Zidane they will not support him in the transfer market? See no coach, I repeat, no coach will succeed in Man U with the current calibre of defenders the club parades without signing one or two quality defenders.
More so, it is instructive to also note that while Manchester United are struggling and the management are not fully backing Mourinho in the transfer market, other top and compact teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, etc are busy fortifying their teams with the signing of new players, and Tottenham which did not buy any single player this season did not allow any of its players to leave the club.
On Paul Pogba: he is a great and creative player no doubt, but he has allowed fame and indiscipline to take over him. I don’t blame Mourinho for keeping him on the bench because he (Mourinho) has learnt his lesson when he was in Chelsea. When he was in Chelsea, Mourinho kept using some players that were underperforming week in week out, he kept believing in them until they nailed his coffin. Experience isn’t the best teacher, but evaluated experience is.