A Big Season For Mourinho

Jose Mourinho claimed three trophies in his first season at Manchester United but more will be expected in his second year in charge. We put Mourinho under the spotlight in our series looking at the managers of the Premier League's top six.

What happened last year?

United won the Community Shield against Leicester City at Wembley in Mourinho's first game in charge and ended the campaign with Europa League glory as they beat Ajax in Stockholm. In between they also saw off Southampton in an entertaining EFL Cup final, winning 3-2 thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late winner.

Cup success came at a price. United made little inroads in the Premier League, finishing sixth after falling behind early on. A failure to beat bottom-half teams at Old Trafford proved damaging and as the fixtures piled up, Mourinho shifted priorities to salvage the season. It worked and Champions League qualification was secured through the Europa League win.

What are the expectations?

While United's recent history in the league is disappointing - seventh, fourth, fifth and sixth since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement - the expectation is that Mourinho can significantly improve upon that in his second season at the helm. After all, he won the league title in his second season at Porto, Inter, Real Madrid and both of his spells at Chelsea.

Mourinho also finds himself back in the Champions League, a competition he has won twice and reached the semi-finals of on a record eight occasions. Adding a ninth last-four appearance will be a target this season but United fans might settle for getting through the group stages - Louis van Gaal did not manage to do that in 2015.

What has he done in the transfer window?

The summer has been marked by the departure of captain Wayne Rooney after 13 years at United but there have been some big signings to excite supporters once again. With Ibrahimovic also needing to be replaced, Mourinho has turned to Romelu Lukaku to score the goals this coming season, a player he knew from their time together at Chelsea.

At the back, the hope will be that another new signing, Sweden international Victor Lindelof from Benfica, can form a strong partnership with Eric Bailly in the centre of defence. Expect midfield to be strengthen too with a number of high-profile targets, including Nemanja Matic and Eric Dier, reportedly on Mourinho's radar.

Mourinho has admitted that area of the pitch remains his focus but conceded he may only land one more target.

"I'm happy with my squad but I would like to have two more players ... a midfield player would give me more options to balance the team and an attacking player, especially that can play through the wings, to give me more attacking options," he told reporters on the club's pre-season US tour. "I would like two more players but probably I only get one."

What are the big issues to address?

Having been outscored by Bournemouth let alone the rest of the top six, United will need to boost their firepower significantly if they are to figure in the title race. Lukaku cannot do that alone and will need better service to make an impact. More creativity on the flanks and through midfield will be a priority - with Mourinho stating that two targets remain - and much will be expected of Paul Pogba.

In winning two cup finals and keeping clean sheets against every team in the top four last season, Mourinho showed once more that he knows how to set up his side in the big games. But a total of eight home wins was nowhere near good enough and United even failed to score against West Brom, Burnley and Hull at Old Trafford. A solution simply must be found.

So what happens next?

United are the 100/30 second favourites to win the Premier League with Sky Bet. That would be some turnaround having finished sixth last season but each of the past two champions have made bigger leaps to top the table. Mourinho has been backed in the transfer market and the club will hope to see the benefit of that as his team takes shape.

Credit: Skysports.com