Despite winning three trophies in his first year at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho was eventually sacked following a dreadful start to his third season.
Mourinho’s final game in charge at United came against Liverpool at Anfield in December 2018. Sadio Mane’s strike and a brace from Xherdan Shaqiri gave the hosts a 3-1 win, leaving United sixth in the league.
We’ve taken a look back at their side from that day to see how those players have fared since.
David De Gea
Since winning his fourth United Player of the Year award in 2017-18, De Gea has suffered a huge downturn in form.
The Spain international has made a series of high-profile mistakes in the last three seasons and also missed the decisive penalty in their 2021 Europa League final defeat to Villarreal.
But an excellent 2021-22 season ensured De Gea beat off competition from Dean Henderson for his starting spot.
Matteo Darmian
Darmian made just three appearances under Solskjaer before being shipped off to Parma for £1.4million in 2019.
The full-back then joined Inter Milan in 2020 and helped them win the Serie A title, transforming himself into a match-winning superstar forward towards the end of his debut campaign.
Chris Smalling
After playing regularly under Louis van Gaal and Mourinho, Smalling fell out of favour following Solskjaer’s arrival in 2018.
The 32-year-old spent a season on loan at Roma before making the move permanent in 2020, bringing an end to his 10-year spell at United.
He’s since reunited with Mourinho but is faring better under his management in the Italian capital.
“The situation with Chris is about finding a balance on his body that allows him to be playing regularly because after that his experience, his qualities are there, he is a fantastic player,” Mourinho said in May 2022.
“In this moment he is recognised here in Italy even in a funny way: ‘Smalldini’ which is [a mix] of Smalling and Maldini. He is doing amazing for us.”
Victor Lindelof
Despite being signed by Mourinho for £30.8million in the summer of 2017, Lindelof struggled to earn the trust of the Portuguese manager.
“Lindelof is very, very good in some aspects of the game,” Mourinho later told Sky Sports in 2019. “But he can be bullied in the one-on-one in the box, he’s not especially good in the air and Maguire has that kind of presence and physicality that is very, very important.”
The Sweden international was a regular under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but has slipped…
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