There are enough stats flying around comparing Jose Mourinho rather unfavourably to predecessors David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
Without going into too many of them, it’s fair to say Mourinho’s recent summary of his personal life in Manchester as a “disaster” should probably be extended to his time in the dugout as well.
United are not a club to lose patience with managers quickly – if they were, they would probably have sacked Sir Alex Ferguson at some point during his difficult first years in the north-west.
Yet, they will be demanding that Mourinho makes some big changes soon. He’s been given plenty of money to bring in new faces, but what he needs now is to get rid of some of the dead wood.
The Telegraph have it that eight players are set to be axed, though what’s most notable is some of the names that are missing.
In defence, full-backs Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian, as well as Phil Jones are all fighting for their futures. Jones has been unlucky with injuries so Mourinho can’t rely on him, while the other two simply haven’t been good enough.
The rest of the list are all midfielders, with Bastian Schweinsteiger obviously leading the way. The German may have returned to training this week, but that isn’t going to save him.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick are also believed to be on their way out, the latter only because he can no longer play regularly due to his age.
And wingers Memphis Depay and Ashley Young make up the rest. Equally, neither will come as a massive surprise.
It’s unclear exactly where the Telegraph have got these names from, or whether it’s purely speculation. If, however, it’s coming from a United source, that could mean Wayne Rooney is set to remain at Old Trafford, as are Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Daley Blind, and Marouane Fellaini.
United fans may be confused by some of the names who perhaps should be on the list but aren’t, but if the Red Devils continue at their current rate, there has to be some kind of an exodus.
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