Four successful managers who struggled at Premier League Clubs

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The world of football has its eyes firmly focused on Jose Mourinho at the moment. The Manchester United boss has led the club to their worst Premier League start in 29 years, losing three of their opening seven league games, and being knocked out of the League Cup by Championside side, Derby County.

Not only that, but Mourinho has also played his part in a high-profile bust-up with one of the club’s most decorated players, Paul Pogba, which has further turned the fanbase against the former Chelsea manager.

When Mourinho arrived at Manchester United in 2016, the expectation was high. The two felt like a match made in heaven, and it looked as though Mourinho would finally be able to take the Manchester Club back to its former glory.

In fairness, Mourinho has achieved a modicum of success at the club, winning three trophies during his time there and guiding them to a second place finish in the Premier League last season.

Mourinho’s time at the club is clearly coming to an end though, and with every fresh defeat, he is doing nothing more than tarnishing his once great legacy.

While it is unfair to label Mourinho a failure, he has not managed to live up to expectations at Manchester United, and it feels as though the club is currently going backwards under his management.

Mourinho is not the first successful manager to have a tough time at a Premier League club though, so let’s take a look at four other managers who found life difficult in the Premier League.

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#4 Juande Ramos- Tottenham

Juande Ramos arrived at Tottenham in 2007 following a successful career managing various clubs in Spain. In his final job before joining Spurs, he had led Seville to the Champions League, having also won the Copa Del Rey during his time there.

Ramos took over from Martin Jol in November of the 2007/08 season and in fairness, did a good job of taking a team who had a horrendous start to a fairly respectable 11th placed finish. Notably, his team also won the League Cup that year, beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley in a thrilling final.

Unfortunately for Ramos though, the club couldn’t keep any of that momentum going and they experienced their worst ever start to a Premier League season in 08/09. The North London club failed to win any of their opening 8 games, picking up only 2 points along the way before Ramos’ dismissal from the club in October, just 11 months after he had taken the job.

#3 Andre Villas-Boas- Chelsea

Andre Villas-Boas arrived at Chelsea in 2011 with a lot of expectations. The Portuguese manager had lost only 4 of his 58 games during his run the previous season at Porto, but as he quickly discovered, managing in the Premier League is a lot harder than managing in Portugal.

Villas-Boas has a fairly impressive Summer in the transfer market at the club, securing the services of Juan Mata and Thibaut Courtois, with the latter being immediately loaned out to Athletico Madrid.

Things started fairly strong for Boas, but by the middle of November, he had already lost six games as Chelsea manager, two more than he had managed in his previous season at Porto.

During December, both Nicholas Anelka and Alex were transfer listed by the club and banned from training with the first team following transfer requests being handed in by the players.

The start of 2012 was a rough ride for Villas-Boas, and the club eventually let the former Porto go in March, with Roberto Di Matteo being brought in as his replacement until the end of the season.

Chelsea would go on to have their greatest ever achievement under the leadership of Di Matteo, with the club defeating Bayern Munich on penalties to win their first ever Champions League trophy.

#2 Louis van Gaal- Manchester United

Jose Mourinho is not the first manager to come under the microscope in the post-Fergie era at Manchester United, Louis van Gaal suffered the exact same fate just over two years ago.

The Dutchman was seen as the dream appointment for Manchester United, and on paper, he was. He was appointed by the club in 2014 following the departure of David Moyes, and made his presence known straight away by securing the services of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao in his first transfer window at the club.

Unfortunately, those players failed to live up to their reputation, and United suffered a torrid start to their campaign, losing their first game 2-1 to Swansea before being humiliated 4-0 by League One side, Milton Keynes Dons in the League Cup.

He eventually steadied the ship in his first season at the club and despite not winning any trophies, would go on to secure a fourth place finish for the club, three places higher than David Moyes had managed in the previous season.

United failed to improve on that in their following campaign, missing out on Champions League football on goal difference to their nearest rivals, with Van Gaal reportedly being questioned over his tactics by players and fans alike.

He did manage to secure one trophy in his time at the club, seeing United to a 2-1 victory in extra-time over Crystal Palace, but that wasn’t enough to keep the former Netherlands manager in a job, with the board letting him go just 48 hours after his victory.

#1 Luiz Felipe Scolari- Chelsea

Luis Felipe Scolari made history when he signed for Chelsea in 2008 by becoming the first ever World Cup winning manager to manage a team in the Premier League.

Scolari’s appointment was seen as a major coup for the London Club, though, his intentions were originally brought into question when he admitted that financial reasons were one of his big reasons for signing with the Premier League giants.

Regardless, things got off to a good start under Scolari, with Chelsea hammering Portsmouth 4-0 on the opening day of the campaign. They also kickstarted their Champions League campaign with the same scoreline, destroying Ligue 1 side, Bordeaux at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, results would begin to turn against Scolari before Christmas time, with the club being knocked out of the League Cup on penalties to Burnley, and suffering several defeats to some of their nearest rivals in the league.

Things would continue to turn sour for Scolari, with the club being held to a 1-1 draw at home against League two side, Southend United in the FA Cup. By the start of the new year, there were already questions surrounding Scolari’s future at the club.

With Champions League qualification resting in the balance, the club decided to let Scolari go in early February, with Guus Hiddink being brought in as his temporary replacement.

Hiddink managed to turn Chelsea’s fortune around, taking them to a third-place finish and winning the FA Cup at the club whilst also managing the Russian national side.