Jose Mourinho insisted that with his new club the main objective for the new season is to win the Barclays Premier League trophy.
Last time the Red Devils had won, was the era of Sir Alex Ferguson in his final season in 2013. Last season, they finished fifth, fifteen points behind the champion Leicester City.
Fifth place means that United is not included in the Champions League. The logical aim of the new manager would be to finish in the top fourth, but Mourinho would not be satisfied with securing the position of the preliminary round of the Champions League.
“I want to be champion,” said Mourinho. “A big evolution in the team, without being champion as somebody else was very strong, would not be a disappointment. “But to say before the season starts that the top four is the target? The top four is not the target. We want to play to be champions.”
The first replacement for Ferguson, the Scottish coach David Moyes did not last at the club even a year of his six-year contract, being the third shortest coach in clubs’ history and the only trophy that the club has won was the FA Community Shield trophy. His follower Dutchman Louis Van Gaal endured at the club for two seasons and also won only a single trophy – the FA Cup.
Mourinho is thus the third trainer who will try to link up on the Ferguson achievement. Vice-chairman of the club Ed Woodward will be hoping, that he finally found the right manager who will bring United back to the top of the table. However, Mourinho admitted that his executive team did not give him specific targets, which should he meet at the end of the season.
“There was no ultimatum,” he said. “The message from the owners and Mr. Woodward was: get your three years, do your work, improve the team and bring us back where we belong during a three-year period.
“My message was that I wanted to win the title in the first season.”
The Portuguese manager is currently busy in accordance with the preparation of the team for the new season. Thus, the club played two games with the balance of one win against Wigan (2-0) and one win against Borussia Dortmund (1-4). Next game against city rivals Manchester City will have a taste of rivalry since Pep Guardiola is sitting on the bench of Manchester City.
There are also speculations if the United buys or does not buy his former midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus. French player had developed into a world-class player since his departure from England. The transfer amount would probably beat some records, with an estimated price of about £80 to 90,000,000 pounds (if not more). Meanwhile, there are three new players – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Eric Bailly.
Whether United will return back to the top, or will worry as Liverpool, we will see in just a few weeks. Mourinho, however, does not have the nickname “The Special One,” just for nothing, and certainly, he will show his specialty in the English club.
source: skysports.com, foto: wikipedia.org