Manchester United: Success, failure and Mourinho’s three-season syndrome

Chelsea (again)

After the (relative) disappointment of his tenure in Madrid, Mourinho came back to the club that made his name as a top-class manager. Chelsea welcomed him back with open arms, and he set about rebuilding the squad, jettisoning their lynchpin, Juan Mata. By his second season, he had built another title-winning side.

If there was ever a situation in which Mourinho could break his cycle of brief periods of success followed by absolute chaos, it was here. He was back at a club where he had the full support of the fans. His relationship with Abramovich seemed good again, with Arnesen long gone.

But what transpired in his third season was Mourinho’s most shocking series of results. He kicked off the 2015-16 season by falling out with the club doctor, Eva Carneiro, accusing her of wasting time while his team drew against Swansea.

Results got worse, and by the time December rolled around, Chelsea was lounging a point off the relegation zone. Mourinho had openly accused his players of “betraying” him.

Sources at Chelsea spoke of an air of mistrust around the club, as Mourinho thought some players were leaking team information to the press. He started setting them up in training in a way that left it unclear who was starting games on the weekend.

A lack of summer signings to improve his champions had left Mourinho openly frustrated, and this feeling grew and ate away at the team. It did not help that rejects such as Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku were blossoming elsewhere. Mourinho left under a cloud, embarrassed and hurt, fired before Christmas.