The now-Tottenham boss spent two-and-a-half-years at Old Trafford before the club board fired him.
Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United fired him prematurely, as he hadn’t had enough time to deliver the expected results.
The Portuguese coach has had a distinguished career in football, having won major honors in four different nations across the continent, and was expected to revive United’s glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Three titles in the Community Shield, EFL Cup, and Europa League all came in his debut campaign in 2016/17. Runners-up Premier League and FA Cup finishes followed the following season before United dismissed him.
The Red Devils made the decision after a poor start to the 2018/19 season.
🗣️ "Now Man Utd are one of the favourites for the #UEL"
🗣️ "It is not fair that one team doesn't succeed in one competition they drop to another"
Jose Mourinho is not thrilled to have Manchester United join Spurs in the Europa League knockout stagespic.twitter.com/FrcROsQn0t
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 9, 2020
“In a certain period of my career, with a profile of the club I was getting in hands, we didn’t need as much time to reach success,” said Mourinho as quoted in the Independent.
“We did it at Porto, Inter, Real [Madrid], Chelsea, both times, we did it without that need of that longevity and also my desire to try different things and my crazy desire to go to many countries, and to try to win it, and try to get different experiences in many different countries, was perfect because was about winning, and goodbye, and let’s try another thing.
“The first club where I felt I need time and time was not given was at Manchester United, because I felt that I left at the middle of the process, but I learn very early to respect decisions, which I did at United.
“We did what we did, we did what was possible to do, and we move on. I am happy, they are happy, and we have a great relation, which is something I am very proud always to say, when I leave clubs, I keep a very good relationship with everybody, and United is one more example of that.”
Mourinho became Spurs manager in November 2019 and has since taken the club to the top of the Premier League table this season.